DİSK-AR shared its data on youth unemployment in Turkey on the occasion of the 19 May Youth and Sports Day of the Turkish state and noted that youth unemployment increased during the AKP period.

Using the 2022 1st Quarter Household Labor Force Survey (HIA) of the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) and the 2021 annual data, DİSK-AR stated that the broadly defined number of youth unemployed is 2.3 million.

Underlining that youth unemployment increased during the AKP period, DİSK-AR drew attention to the fact that young people with higher education mostly work for a minimum wage.

According to the research carried out by DISK-AR among young people aged between 15 and 24, youth unemployment rates in Turkey increased even more during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The report said that “young people withdrew from the labor market faster during the pandemic period. Millions of unemployed youth have either stopped looking for work or have delayed their entry into the labor market. Both narrowly and broadly defined unemployment rates continue to increase among young people who give up looking for a job, despair of finding a job, and leave the workforce.       

The report stated that while the narrow-defined unemployment rate for youth is 21.1% according to the annual data of TÜİK for 2021, the broad-defined unemployment rate calculated by DİSK-AR based on the data by the TÜİK is 41%.

Broad youth unemployment is 20 points higher than narrow youth unemployment, according to the report, which also pointed to the increase in unemployment among young women. “The narrowly defined unemployment rate for women is 26 percent and the broad unemployment rate is 49.7 percent. For men aged 15-24, narrowly defined unemployment was 18.8 percent and broadly defined unemployment was 36.1 percent.

In young women aged 15-24, narrow-defined unemployment was announced as 25.3 percent by TUIK, while broad-defined unemployment was calculated as 49.7 percent. Thus, narrow-defined unemployment is 17.3 points higher for men and 24.4 points higher for women than broad-defined unemployment.”

DİSK-AR also compared youth unemployment in Turkey with the EU 27 countries, OECD and G27 country averages. “According to March 2022 data, youth unemployment is 9.1 percent on the average of the G7 countries, 11.1 percent on the OECD average, and on the average of the EU-27 countries is 14 percent. Turkey is at the forefront of the world with its narrow definition of youth unemployment of 21.1 percent.”