• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.159-181
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• 2004

This study examines the realities and causes of youth and new college graduate unemployment, and seeks some assignments for mitigating youth and new college graduate unemployment. An analysis of the realities and causes of youth and new college graduate unemployment is summarized as follows. First, youth unemployment rate, which rapidly increased after the IMF economic crisis, slowly decreased after 2000, but was still somewhat higher in 2002 than that before the IMF. Second, new college graduate unemployment rate, which rapidly increased after the IMF economic crisis, slowly decreased after 2000 and became a similar level to that before the IMF economic crisis, but the number of the unemployed new college graduates highly increased after the IMF. Third, an analysis of the causes of youth unemployment shows that economic growth and the employment elasticity of economic growth negatively affect the unemployment rate, and the rate of entrance into colleges positively affects the unemployment rate. Fourth, an analysis of the causes of new college graduate unemployment demonstrates that economic growth and the employment elasticity of economic growth negatively affect the unemployment rate, and the increase rate of new college graduates, the college graduate/youth population ratio, and the time trend positively affect the unemployment rate. These results suggest several implications for mitigating the unemployment rate of the youth and new college graduates. First, in order to increase labor demand, emphasis must be placed on preparing economic conditions which can raise economic growth rate and on fostering industries and occupations which have high employment elasticity. Second, in the aspect of labor supply, it is necessary to adjust the number of new college graduates corresponding to labor demands in industries. Third, in order to redress the mismatch between the demand and the supply of the youth labor market, attention should be paid to remedying educational systems such as the activation of vocational education and training in middle and high schools and the reformation of college education to match the education and training provided in colleges and the skills requirements of the world of work, and preparing a unified program to support the youth unemployed systematically and synthetically.