YOUTH AND COVID-19 IN CHOSEN EUROPEAN UNION LABOUR MARKETS: FROM JUNK JOBS TO UNEMPLOYMENT

The main purpose of the paper is to consider the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on the situation of youth in chosen countries of the European Union in the years 2009–2021. The study area includes four countries: Poland, Germany, Spain and France. The structure of the paper is following. At first, the concepts of precarity and labour market theories are presented. Then the statistical analysis of the situation of young people in Polish, German, Spanish and French labour markets is conducted to assess the economic position of youth in the labour market in the aspect of unemployment and to scrutinise temporary and precarious employment among youth. The principal research interest includes the impact of the pandemic on the situation of youth in the labour market. The conclusion is presented at the end of the paper. The article uses the methods of descriptive statistics and simple statistical measures describing the dynamics of studied phenomena. Main conclusion of the paper is that the labour market in the pandemic era has become hugely challenging for youth. They often work in crisis-sensitive sectors and workplaces. As a result, young people experience increased job insecurity, relatively higher unemployment rate and worse economic conditions compared to total population in the labour market. Due to the results of our analysis implementing the dual education system at the macro level is the strongly recommended solution for improving the situation of youth in the labour market.