Friday, March 29, 2024 | Ramadan 18, 1445 H
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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

No country for young men

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Alvise Armellini - It’s no wonder that one of the more popular programmes on Italy’s RAI public radio station is called “No Country For Young Men,” in a country with a stagnant economy that offers few prospects for younger generations. Youth unemployment has been above 30 per cent for six years. Some 50,000 people under age 40 moved abroad in 2015, including 23,000 university graduates. And a report found that 75 per cent of youngsters believe they would have better opportunities by moving elsewhere in Europe. Italy is “haemorrhaging” talent, and this brain drain is stunting economic growth by 1 percentage point per year, according to Luca Paolazzi, Chief Economist of the Confindustria business lobby. “It represents a real emergency,” he said last week. timberland sale Italy is infamous for a record share of so-called NEETs — young people who are neither employed nor partaking in some kind of education or training. adidas gazelle femme beige In 2016, the percentage was 30.7 per cent, compared to an EU average of 18.3 per cent, statistics show. “Today’s young people can no longer expect to be wealthier than their parents and grandparents,” Massimiliano Valerii, Director of Social Research Institute Censis, said. “This is unprecedented in Italy’s post-war history.” Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni’s centre-left government has woken up to the crisis and pledged to include in next year’s budget law — to be presented by October 15 — measures to boost youth hirings. “There are very few resources [for government largesse], given budget constraints,” Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan said. “For sure youth employment is one of the very few items that will be targeted” in budget plans, he added. The idea currently on the table is to cut social security costs for newly hired workers who are under a certain age, yet to be defined. The government is also considering sending up to 500,000 public-sector workers into early retirement, to free their jobs up for younger generations. Adidas Yeezy 350 Homme But there are concerns that tax breaks only for young employees might encourage companies to fire them as soon as they get older. And there are also suspicions that the promise of new state jobs ahead of next year’s elections smack of pork barrel politics. “The truth is that we have fewer young people today, and this makes them less politically relevant,” Valerii said.


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