YOUTH IN THE LABOR MARKET: PROBLEMS AND TRENDS

Abstract

Despite the fact that over the past 15 years, it has been possible to reduce the mortality among young people, reduce the level of youth unemployment, increase the interest of young people in maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and the fact that Russia is one of the world leaders in terms of the number of young specialists with higher education, there are a number of factors that negatively affect the socio-economic status of youth and its role in society. First of all, these factors include the decline in the number of young people and its share in the total population. This trend has a systemic negative impact on the socio-economic development of the country, expressed in the natural population loss, in the reduction of labor resources, in the growth of the pension load. As a negative factor, it is also necessary to note a decrease in the population’s income over the last four years, especially against the backdrop of the continuing high material and social stratification. A consequence of the above may be increased aggression in the youth environment, national and religious intolerance, the growth of social tension. No less dangerous is the other extreme — the socio- political and economic apathy of this part of society. Therefore, special attention is paid to the analysis of the economic activity of youth in this article. It presents the structure of the number of young people in terms of their participation in labor and study. The structure of the labor force at the age of 15—29 years is studied in detail (in general, and by cohorts 15—19, 20—24, 21—29 years). Along with the traditional indicators of employment and unemployment, new statistical indicators characterizing the underutilization of the workforce are considered, including the potential labor force; the number of people who in principle want to work, but do not seek for a job at all and are not ready to start it. The indicator «The proportion of young people who do not study or work at the age of 15—24, in the total number of young people of this age» was also developed, and its structure was studied. On the results of statistical surveys of the population, it is shown that the problem of inefficient youth employment lies in the quality of education that it receives in school, in colleges and universities, in a low level of professional orientation.