These past 2 years our lives took a turn that no one in the present times would have imagined. Rapid progress and continuous development of technological innovations in the health sector, among others, formed the false presumption that humankind was ready and armed to defend itself from any serious threat.
Until the COVID-19 pandemic broke out and our world changed.
A health threat overwhelmed our lives and our well-being. Businesses shutting down, services being cut and people losing their jobs not because of a lack of commitment or their fault in any way, but because of a pandemic that they couldn’t get control of. Unemployment became from a distant fear, to actual reality, for millions of people.
Now, two years after the initial shock, things seem alleviated. Measures against COVID-19 pandemic are becoming less strict, businesses are re-established and services are resuming. But, what is the aftermath for those who were or became and remained unemployed during these past couple of years? What does the future hold for the now long-term unemployed?
According to the 25/2021 special report by the European Court of Auditors (ECA), measures for combating long-term unemployment still need to be reinforced. In other words, they haven’t been enough so far. Measures during the 2014-2021 period had, according to the auditors’ views, a relieving impact. Yet, the reduction of long-term unemployment was only a peripheral result of the action plan employed. More specifically, given that Active Labour Market Policies had different target, they were not adapted to meet specific needs for long-term unemployed persons. Consequently, for the period 2021-2027 the ECA would insist that the EU Member States should follow an individualised approach.
Lazaros Lazarou, the writer of the ECA report, notes that “Long-term unemployment affects our social fabric. Jobless people are at a higher risk of poverty, social exclusion, and even health problems. [..] We have found that EU-funded measures so far have reached many long-term jobseekers, but were not specifically designed with them in mind. The COVID-19 pandemic may exacerbate the problem of long-term unemployment […]”
This is definitely not news! A plethora of researches and publications offer evidence for the risks associated with long-term unemployment. Yet, what the ECA report stresses is the need for an insightful approach towards both policy design and impact assessment, especially in view of the short, medium and long-term effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This is where the Cowork4YOUTH project fits in. With the aim to increase knowledge on the impact of existing policies and offer policy suggestions to enhance youth employment opportunities in non-metropolitan, tourism-dependent, regions, the project applies a critical view of the state-of-play in Active Labour Market Policies for young mothers and long-term unemployed people. The ability to offer attainable policy alternatives, stems from understanding the present reality.
Author:
Zoopigi Touvra, Rhodes Centre for History and Social Research
Links
European Court of Auditors (2021), Long-term unemployment in the EU requires more specific action. URL (accessed 20.03.2022):
https://www.eca.europa.eu/Lists/ECADocuments/INSR21_25/INSR_Long-term_unemployment_EN.pdf
