In January this year, Spain’s youth unemployment rate reached 49.9 percent, the highest level ever recorded in a developed country.
Greece was close behind, with a youth unemployment rate of 48.1 percent. Italy was at 31.1 percent, and Poland, France, Sweden, Britain, Belgium and Finland each topped 20 percent. (The last detailed figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics gave a U.S. rate of 18.1 percent, rising to 20.1 percent among Hispanics and 31 percent for blacks).
But in Germany, the youth unemployment rate is below 10 percent. Most of the credit is given to the country’s apprenticeship scheme. More than 60 percent of German school-leavers become apprentices, spending three days a week at a vocational school and two days a week learning on the job with a company. But the low jobless rates have a deeper explanation: low German birthrates.
Over the past five years, the United Nations Population Program records Germany’s total fertility rate at 1.4 children per woman. At that rate, a population halves in the course of 70 years. By contrast, France and Britain (and the U.S.) have been enjoying fertility rates hovering around 2 children per woman, which means more youngsters coming into the labor force.
Greece was close behind, with a youth unemployment rate of 48.1 percent. Italy was at 31.1 percent, and Poland, France, Sweden, Britain, Belgium and Finland each topped 20 percent. (The last detailed figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics gave a U.S. rate of 18.1 percent, rising to 20.1 percent among Hispanics and 31 percent for blacks).
But in Germany, the youth unemployment rate is below 10 percent. Most of the credit is given to the country’s apprenticeship scheme. More than 60 percent of German school-leavers become apprentices, spending three days a week at a vocational school and two days a week learning on the job with a company. But the low jobless rates have a deeper explanation: low German birthrates.
Over the past five years, the United Nations Population Program records Germany’s total fertility rate at 1.4 children per woman. At that rate, a population halves in the course of 70 years. By contrast, France and Britain (and the U.S.) have been enjoying fertility rates hovering around 2 children per woman, which means more youngsters coming into the labor force.
