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Press release

Young people into the labour market

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Istat presents the main results of a survey about young people in the labour market, carried out in the second quarter of 2016 within the Labour Force Survey.

The topics, agreed at the European Union level, are related to the educational and training pathways and the work placement processes of young people aged 15-34.

In particular, the survey has expanded the information on educational family background, on work and internships experiences referred to the period of the studies; on the interruption of study courses; on the public support received to find a job; on the method used to find the current main job, on the willingness to move for work reasons; on the level of matching between the job and the level of education attained.

In the second quarter of 2016, young people – aged 15-34 – were 12 million 681 thousand, that is 21% of Italian population.

Approximately 40% of upper secondary graduates and around 60% of
tertiary graduates had at least one job experience during their last course of study. The majority of these ones were part of the study program: 25.8% of upper secondary graduates and 36.1% of tertiary graduates carried out internships, placements or apprenticeships within the education programs. The realization of these experiences in upper secondary education was increasing over time. There were, however, strong territorial differences.

8 million and 10 thousand young people, i.e. 63.2% of 15-34 years old, were out of the formal education and training system. Among them, the level of education of women and residents in the Centre-North was significantly higher than that of men and residents in the South and Islands area. The level of education attained by young people was also strongly influenced by the family educational background.

14.2% of young people out of the education system, had started but then abandoned a subsequent course of study after the last graduation. The percentage rose to
23.9% among those with at most a lower secondary education; the main reason for not completing the upper secondary studies was the difficulty experienced and/or lack of interest in the studies.

Only 15.1% of the young unemployed received public support in finding a job during the last year. Of these, only one in seven was included in an internship/work/civil service.

Four unemployed out of ten would be available to change place of residence for a job. The willingness to move, also abroad, was higher among the tertiary graduates. Greater willingness to move for job was found for young people born in families with higher level of education.

Among the employed, four out of ten have found the current job thanks to relatives, friends or acquaintances. Only among tertiary graduates the chances of finding a job grew through other labour market input channels.

The employment rate of young people out of formal education was 60% and grew with the educational attainment: the position of
the ones with a low level of education was very weak, with only 47.4% of employed, while among those with an upper secondary education the rate rose to 63.0%. With an employment rate of 71.7%, however, also the job prospects of young people with tertiary education remained unsatisfactory.
As the age increased, the percentage of young people in temporary jobs reduced considerably, decreasing from 66.6% of 15-19 years old to 15.3% of age 30-34.

Over one out of four of young employed had a temporary job. Among those coming out of formal education in the last two years (II quarter 2014 – II quarter 2016), the share of the engaged in atypical jobs reached 51.7% among tertiary graduates and 64.4% among upper secondary graduates.

About one employed in four worked at a reduced time amount and in most cases this was not a choice, rather it was due to the impossibility to find a full-time employment.

41% of the upper secondary graduates and 31.4% of tertiary graduates declared that a lower
educational level than the one held would be sufficient to perform their work properly. The incidence of the over-education phenomenon was lowest among tertiary graduates who were self-employed (20%) and highest in upper secondary graduates involved in atypical job (46.8%).

Reference period: II quarter 2016

Date of Issue: 27 October 2017

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