We often ask whether youth are ready for the future. But is the future ready for them? That’s the underlying theme, and the title of a recent, comprehensive book by the ILO on the youth employment challenge.

In 2019, around 430 million young people were working but some 68 million, or more than 13.6 per cent were unemployed. What’s more, and ILO estimates that some 22 per cent of all youth (or roughly 267 million) weren’t in education, employment or training in 2019.

The COVID-19 pandemic has only made matters worse. In this podcast, the editors of the book, Sukti Dasgupta, ILO Employment Department Chief of the Employment, Labour Markets and Youth Branch, and Juan Chacaltana, Senior Employment Policies Specialist, discuss these issues and how to transform traditional youth employment policies to help build a better future for them.