Approximately half of Spain’s young people are unemployed while nearly 50 per cent of those in work are overqualified.

Overqualification is a waste of government investment in education but also produces professional and emotional scarring and prompts emigration, according to Ignacio Socias, director general of think-tank Family Watch.

“This is the first time that an economic crisis has affected the young more than older people,” he said.

Spain has yet to introduce specific measures to solve these problems, Socias explained at the presentation of Family Watch’s latest study “Youth unemployment in times of crisis and its consequences.” If countries including Germany and France have introduced successful schemes, why not in Spain, he asked.

“We are in favour of a dual scheme like Germany’s. This means that young people without jobs attend courses for half the day and work during the other half, even though they don’t earn much and the employer pays little in taxes and social security for them.  It’s a question of finding a balanced solution,” Socias said.

The dual system was better than sitting at home and doing nothing, he claimed.  It nevertheless required an effort on the part of society, including governments which missed out on taxes and businesses that were training people without much experience. It is also essential to respect the concept of “a decent job” established by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) based on pay, work safety, healthy working conditions, access to social and employment security and absence of discrimination.

Overqualification implies that too many young people had university degrees, he said, pointing out that only a third of graduates with journalism degrees would find jobs.  Meanwhile there is a shortage of people for “more basic, but equally respectable” jobs like plumbing. A combined effort is needed from society, the education system and families to create the right environment to encourage the young, Socias suggested. Above all, he said, parents could help to prepare their children for future jobs in ways that could only be learnt at home.

Source:http://ewnbusiness.com