Youth Unemployment and Its Impact on Social Stability: A Comparative Study of Developing and Developed Countries

Abstract

Unemployment among the youths remains one of the most important problems worldwide with many far-reaching implications on social stability and economic viability. This paper is a comparative assessment of the impact of young unemployment on social stability through developing and industrialized countries. The study uses a mixed method design, which includes cross-national unemployment data, social instability data, and comparative policy research to determine the influence of unemployment rates among the youths on social cohesion, political participation, crime rate and trust. The results show that the level of young unemployment is significantly higher in the developing countries that are strongly linked with the increased social unrest, political instability, informal labor involvement, and emigration. On the other hand, wealthy countries, even with cyclical adolescent unemployment, have relatively less disruptive levels in the society and this is due to well-established labor market institutions, welfare systems, and skill-development systems. The findings also indicate that in both cases the long term young unemployment causes psychological stress, social marginalization and loss of trust in government institutions. The paper indicates that the social effects of unemployment among teenagers are not determined solely by the economic aspect but also the governance and the effectiveness of policies. The research concludes that general employment policies that aim at assisting individuals to leave school to work, aligning talents, and facilitating advancement to all individuals are needed to decrease social unsteadiness. These results can provide valuable information to the policy makers in the quest to address unemployment among the young people as a core element in the social and economic development.