April 7th 2011 Sigríður Anna Ásgeirsdóttir Hafliði Nielsen Skúlason

Introduction – Personal presentation Hafliði Nielsen Skúlason, EURES adviser Sigríður Anna Ásgeirsdóttir, Career counsellor – The Icelandic labour market – Youth to action

Iceland – square km. – inhabitants 1 st of January. – 63% living in the capital area – 74% living on the South- west part of Iceland – Akureyri is the biggest town outside the South-west area. South-west area Capital area Akureyri

Key figures 2010 labour market registration Working age populationCa Labour force (16-74)180,900 Participation rate81% Average number of unemployed (regist.) 13,700 Unemployment (regist.)7.6% Working hours average39.2 Working hours- full time44.7 Source: Statistics Iceland

Participation rate years by age Source: Statistics Iceland

Unemployment (registered)

Unemployment by age

Unemployment - changes Unemployment is decreasing (see next slide), reached 9,3% in February-March last year. The benefit period was extended to 4 years January 1st 2011 (was 3 years). World record?

July 2008 – July 2010

Number of unemployed by length and by agegroups. July 2010.

Youth to Action A Governmental project – Initially a one year project, which started in January Has now been prolonged to December 31 st, Initiated by the Ministry of Social Affairs The Directorate of Labour is responsible for the management and implementation

Youth to Action – The background 1.Governmental initiative 2.Group of experts – August Focus-group among young job - seekers 4.A report published in November Project started on 4th of January 2010

The Experts Result Young unemployed people between 18 and 24 years old need guidance and purpose Inactivity could have serious consequences for many individuals and the society as a whole Measures towards youth unemployment should emphasise activating them – Education and training – Job-training – Voluntary work

The aim and purpose The Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Security put forward the aim: – that no one should be unemployed longer that three months without being offered work or opportunity to be active. – That aim should be reached with all people younger that 25 before the 1st of April 2010 and the 1st of September 2010 for others.

Youth to Action The aim is: – to tackle long-term unemployment among young people 16 – 24 years of age The goal is: – to activate them within three months of unemployment – intensive guidance and counselling – motivate them to seek further education – participate in other learning activities Participation is obligatory - Mutual obligations

Educational status of the young unemployed % of the men with primary education 70% of the women with primary education

Education of young unemployed in April 2010

Education of all unemployed in April 2010

Early school - leavers Over 90% of all youngsters who finish primary education begin secondary education at the age of 16 More than one third leave secondary education in their first or second year Only about 60% of each age group have finished the four year college studies when they turn 24 years old About 20% finish their college studies later at the years of age

Inactive young job- seekers Social activities Tasks of The Directorate of Labour Work Studies

The process Introduction meetings within three months of unemployment Individual counselling and guidance Individual action plan offered Job-search assistance and monitoring Compulsory participation in active labour market programmes Intensive interventions measures The only option not available is being inactive

The project is evaluated by the Social Science Research Institute

January 2010 compared with January 2011

Number of young employment seekers by area comparison between january and september 2010

With greetings from Iceland