YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT AND GENDER INEQUALITY IN GLOBAL LABOUR MARKETS: IMPLICATIONS FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT FROM 2014 TO 2024

Abstract

Youth unemployment and gender inequality remain major concerns in global labour markets because they directly affect economic participation, social inclusion, and long-term development. This study examines unemployment patterns across countries, sex categories, age groups, and years from 2014 to 2024. A quantitative descriptive research design was adopted to analyse global unemployment trends, youth-adult differences, gender-based disparities, combined age-gender patterns, and country-wise unemployment variations. The study used publicly available unemployment data covering 189 countries and annual unemployment rates disaggregated by sex and age category. The findings show that overall unemployment declined from 12.80% in 2014 to 11.25% in 2024, although a sharp increase occurred in 2020. Youth unemployment remained substantially higher than adult unemployment throughout the period, confirming young people’s greater vulnerability in labour markets. Female unemployment was also consistently higher than male unemployment, showing a persistent gender gap. The combined analysis revealed that female youth experienced the highest unemployment burden across all demographic groups. Country-wise results further showed that unemployment pressure was concentrated in selected countries, with especially high female youth unemployment in 2024. The study concludes that youth unemployment and gender inequality continue to limit inclusive social development. Targeted employment policies, gender-responsive labour-market strategies, and stronger youth transition support are required to reduce these disparities.