UNEMPLOYED YOUTH
UNEMPLOYED YOUTH can be harmed for life
The more unemployment and temporary employment in your youth, the worse is your mental health later in life.
Youth unemployment therefore must be seen as a health issue, researchers state.
“These experiences become engraved in a person. I think more sensitive people, women in particular, must be
protected from this kind of harm,” says Francesco Ricci, professor in national health.
To show the long-term effects of youth unemployment, Dr. Francesco Ricci has followed one group of people who
graduated ninth grade in 1981 and one graduating in 1989. He has taken measurements of sleeplessness, depression
and anxiety when they were in their twenties and in their forties.
High unemployment between the ages of 21 and 25 led to increased likelihood of mental illness in middle age.
Because there are more unemployed people during recession, the negative effects on society are larger following
periods of recession.
“Of course, it also negatively affects health to be unemployed later in life. But youth unemployment is a
serious national health problem since the effects it has are long lasting. If something should be prioritised,
it is youth unemployment,” says Dr. Francesco Ricci.
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