Seven actions to reduce youth unemployment and 3 new training initiatives

The actions of the government that led to the reduction of youth unemployment, and the improvement of their position and prospects, as well as the initiatives that will be implemented in the next period for young women and men, were presented on Monday by Kostis Hatzidakis.

The Minister of Labor spoke at an event to present the cooperation of DYPA with the Institute for Youth and Lifelong Learning (INEDIVIM) for the free granting of the European Youth Card to more from 116,000 young people.

The European Youth Card ensures discounts for young people aged 13 – 30 years in a range of services and products, in areas such as education, tourism, culture, entertainment, catering, sports, health, beauty services, transport, telephony, etc. With the DYPA-INEDIVIM collaboration, the Card will be granted free of charge for one year to all registered unemployed up to the age of 30, to the students of the 50 Apprenticeship Vocational Schools (EPAS) of the DYPA and to the students up to the age of 30 in the 31 IEK of the DYPA.

“Our young people are at the center of the policies we implement. The labor and insurance policy of the Ministry of Labour, combined with the wider policy of the government, have led to a decrease in unemployment from 17.4% in the summer of 2019, to 11.8% last September. A decrease that also affects youth unemployment under the age of 29, which fell from 27.6% in the second quarter of 2019, to 24% in the second quarter of 2022. While specifically for the 25-29 age group, the decrease was even higher: 5.1 percentage points”, emphasized Mr. Hatzidakis.

Actions for young people that are already being implemented include:

1. The program to support youth entrepreneurship, with an emphasis on women and the digital economy, with a budget of 88 million euros from the NSRF 2014-2020, through which 6,000 unemployed young people have the opportunity to start their own business with a grant of 15,000 euros.
2. The work experience acquisition programs, such as “Proto Ensimo”.
3. Programs to support business activity by young people.
4. The mobility programs for looking for a job, apprenticeship or internship in a different region from the place of residence in Greece.
5. DYPA’s new subsidized employment programs, many of which are aimed exclusively at young people. “I note that while young people make up 15% of the registered unemployed, they took over 38% of the 50,131 relevant subsidized positions created by DYPA over 18 months amid the pandemic in 2020-2021. Meanwhile, in 2022 we have 86,000 additional new such jobs, with many of the programs once again having young people as a priority!”, said Mr. Hatzidakis.

New initiatives to support young people being rolled out include:

1. The programs of the new NSRF for the employment of young people, with a total budget of 1 billion which are distributed equally between the actions of the Ministries of Education and Labor and Social Affairs. It’s about:

• Training programs for the integration into the labor market of unemployed 18-29 year olds,
• Programs to support and strengthen young entrepreneurship, with an emphasis on the green, digital and blue economy,
• Apprenticeship Support for young people up to 29 years old,
• Support and guidance programs for new entrepreneurs, with provision of consulting services, and
• Mobility programs to gain work experience in other EU states.

2. The new training programs in digital and green skills totaling €1 billion to be financed by the Recovery Fund.

In addition to the issues of employment and training, Mr. Hatzidakis presented the policies that are implemented and aim to generally improve the prospects and facilitate the daily life of young people, such as:

1. The reform of supplementary youth pensions, with “individual piggy banks” through which young people can reasonably expect to receive supplementary pensions, which, based on OECD studies, will be 43% to 68% higher than today .

2. The new housing policy with the “Spiti My” program with a budget of 1.75 billion Euros with an emphasis on housing young people and new families with subsidized or interest-free housing loans, low rents with the establishment of the institution of social benefits, etc.

3. The actions for the reconciliation of professional and family life, which include:

• Paternity leave of 14 days, parental leave for both parents with the two months subsidized by DYPA, the allowance of 2,000 euros for each child born.
• Expansion of maternity leave subsidized by DYPA from 6 to 9 months with the insurance bill submitted to the Parliament.
• The extension of the subsidy program for DYPA nurseries: in 2021-2022, 30,000 more children received vouchers compared to 2019, while for 2022-2023 the budget amounts to 333 million euros with more vouchers being given than ever before
• The neighborhood nannies program for the care of infants and toddlers aged from 2 months to 2.5 years, the childcare units in 120 large Greek businesses, the 50,000 new positions in daycare centers and 9,000 new positions in KDAP.
• Family benefits which from 1.2 billion euros in 2021 to 2022 increase by 234 million in 2022 due to the extraordinary increases in the child benefit.
• The extension of the opening hours of kindergartens and all-day primary schools, an action of the Ministry of Education, which is 50% financed by the Ministry of Labour.

“Our young people have demands from us! Slogans and wishes are not enough. They expect specific work and specific actions that improve their lives and their prospects. This is what the government does! Our goal is to give our young men and women the opportunities they deserve. To give them the tools with which they will be able to walk in life. Let’s keep alive the promise of a better life for young people!”, concluded Mr. Hatzidakis.

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