ISSUE 4: There is scarcity of local employment opportunities for young workers.

[Barriers to Youth Empowerment and Well-being]

BACKGROUND ON ISSUE 4:
Increasing youth who are unemployed or underemployed

• According to State of the Philippine Population Report 2003, working youth account for 20 percent of the total number of employed persons. On the other hand, 1.48 million or nearly half (47%) of the 3.13 million unemployed persons in the country in 2002 were youths – indicating the lack of job opportunities for the young entrants to the labor force.
• Labor force participation of women (38%) was significantly lower than that of young men (58.7%).
• Unemployment rates among the young were higher in urban areas than in rural areas.
• Few agricultural training programs despite the large number of unemployed youth from rural areas. Need for agricultural skills, and entrepreneurship to stimulate job creation

Increased participation of the youth in the overseas work especially young females.

• A significant number of OFWs belong to the 25-29-year bracket.
• Youth accounted for 12 percent of overseas workers with females constituting the majority (70% in 2001).
• There were more than 6,000 overseas workers in the teenage group, four out of five being females, and mostly originating from Mindanao.

Lack of protection and lack of access to social security

• Young workers have experienced discrimination in terms of lower incomes, poor access to social security, temporary employment, lack of security of tenure, and subcontracting inadequate information about workers’ rights and hazardous working conditions
• Young people being paid less than their adult counterparts for the same amount of work
• Poor bargaining power of the youth and limited protection by unions
• Work in hazardous occupations
• Exploitation of young workers by employers, especially the abuse of female OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers)
• Child labor remains
• Young migrants often fill jobs at the lowest end of the labor market or jobs that nationals are not willing to do
• Given the nature of their work in the private domain, and away from the public eye, young domestic workers are especially vulnerable to exploitation
• Healthcare workers represent an irreplaceable loss in human resources to already weakened health systems in the country

SIKAP STAND ON ISSUE 4:

• Need for continuing investments in human capital (health, nutrition and basic education), livelihood opportunities, and social services for Filipino youth
• Need for improved enforcement of labor standards and laws
• Training courses in agricultural skills and entrepreneurship for rural youth provided. This includes flexibility in the school calendar to fit in with agricultural lifestyles – to help rural youth combine education and employment more easily.
• Youth training and employment program should be established for traditionally disadvantaged groups: women, differently-abled, OSY, rural and indigenous youth.
• Education and training institutions should better plan to match the demand and supply for labor. There is also a need for increased involvement from the private sector in vocational education and technical skills training.