In Uruguay, young people and women are the two most affected groups by unemployment.

While the general unemployment rate is around 8%, among people below 24 years old it raises to 22%, and among youth aged 15 to 18 years old, 36%. This scourge is even more serious when the situation of women is analyzed, and becomes critical among women with children.

Another key point is the employment quality they access.

A survey developed by the Ministry of Social Development (Mides) discovered that 48% of young people did not contribute to social security in their first job -67% belong to the poorest households-. While the average informality rate in Uruguay is 25%, among those youth below 18 years old is 71%, and in the 19 to 24 years old group is 28%.

During the Month of Work, the Secretary of Employability for Social Inclusion of the Montevideo City Council developed an event in which national and departmental public servants debated on the youth situation.

Eduardo Pereyra, director in the National Institute of Employment and Professional Training (Inefop), was opened to changing key matters. He stated that the Youth Employment Act, which aims at promoting decent work among young people, fostering employability and encouraging the combination of study and work, collects national and international political aspects, debates and experiences, but it “is necessary to keep on working on it, adjusting it step by step”.

Pereyra claimed that this Law seeks to prevent “labour market access from causing education system’s drop outs”; therefore, the “small use of study leaves in the private sector” is a matter of concern. Workers are entitled to six days per year for study leaves, but the Youth Employment Act provides an extension of this benefit by either reducing working hours or granting extra leaves.

The Law provides a 25% subsidy on wages with a 17,968 cap. It seeks to promoter working experience among young people aged 15 to 29 years old who belong to socioeconomic vulnerable households. It also subsidizes wages below two minimum wages, favouring women (80% of their salary against 60% of men’s salaries), and includes free labour intermediation service, provided by Technical Employment Centers, which recruit staff and follow up the worker.

Pereyra stated that this policy is not exclusively address to low qualification youngsters, but also reaches those who “graduate from school and cannot access the labour market”.

The director of the National Institute of Youth of the Mides, Federico Barreto, pointed out that the survey mentioned found out that “two thirds of young people get their first job through known networks”, which he considers to have “a major impact on informality and employment quality”.

Looking ahead, Pereyra has stated that there are three lines of work. As regards students’ working professional practices, looking for a way to pay them for their work: “when trying to implement this, we find barriers, for instance, the business sector claims that if they have to pay a wage, they rather just hire a professional. Therefore, we think that we could create a lower category –maybe of an apprentice-, and generate a regulation that moves forward on their wages, as, regardless how unexperienced they might be, they are contributing to the productive system”. In addition, a program to “foster young students” is being developed. It will be focused on “acknowledging and helping” those who are making a “great effort –for example, by relocating- to continue their studies”. Finally, moving forward on the program “Youth startups”, which “awards young people who have innovative ideas”.

Uruguay has the chance of improving the articulation between the public employment service and the private employment agencies to develop active and efficient employment policies. Even though it has already ratified ILO Convention 181, it has failed to implement public policies that seize the advantages of such public-private partnership.