Covid-19 and the youth-to-adult unemployment gap

Abstract

Was the pandemic a “youth-cession”? The pandemic has yielded dramatic consequences in terms of job losses and firm closures almost everywhere. Empirical evidence suggests that the drop was more severe for young people as compared to adults, with little systematic gender differences. The primary reason is that young people are mainly employed via temporary contracts in the sectors most hit by the pandemic. Policymakers should focus on generating sustained and stable economic growth to enable markets to reabsorb the high youth unemployment caused by the pandemic crisis. ELEVATOR PITCH