The Invisible Youth
Outside Society. Politicians claim unemployment is historically low. Yet, one in six young adults stands without a job or education. Both facts are true. That is precisely the problem. Do you see them – or have you learned that they don't exist? Photo: Gemini The official statistics claim that unemployment hovers around a comfortable 2 percent. This figure is repeated like a mantra, a collective sedative assuring us that everything is fine. The labor market is strong. The economy is solid. Most people stop listening there. After all, 2 percent sounds like full employment. The problem is that this number is being given a meaning it never had, and was never intended to have. What the authorities measure when they talk about "unemployment" is specific: People who are currently without a job, actively searching, and registered in the system right now. It is a snapshot of a small, defined group. It tells us about short-term economic fluctuations, but almost nothing about the r...