Philippines
National
Senate panel to find ways to reverse youth unemployment, underemployment—Angara
Senate panel to find ways to reverse youth unemployment, underemployment—Angara
The Senate Committee on Youth is committed to find ways on how to address the issue of unemployment and underemployment among young Filipinos today, Sen. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara said on Wednesday, August 31.
Angara, who filed Senate Resolution No. 155, said there is a need to inquire into the difficulty that young Filipinos experience in finding work even at this point in time when the country’s economy has started to open up once again after two years of battling the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The COVID-19 pandemic had a huge impact on the entire population, including the youth. It could even be argued that the youth faced greater challenges during the pandemic because of the restrictions imposed on mobility,” Angara said.
“It was very difficult for them to join the labor force,” the chair of the Senate youth panel further noted.
A Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) Labor Force Survey conducted in June 2022 has pegged the youth unemployment rate at 11.8 percent or at 854,000 youths (15 to 24 years old).
Angara said this was lower than the 14.5 percent or 1.159 Filipino youths recorded over the same period last year and the 12.8 percent posted before the pandemic.
While there was a decline in the actual figures over the past two years, the senator said the statistics are still high and might even increase again unless necessary interventions are introduced to address the issue.
Angara said there are several laws in place to help the Filipino youth in finding jobs, including Republic Act No. 10917 or the Expanded Special Program for the Employment of Students; RA 10869, which institutionalized the JobStart Philippines program; and RA 11261 or the First Time Jobseekers Program.
“These laws have done a lot to assist the youth but we want to see what else we can do to address the gaps between education and employment,” said the lawmaker, who authored and sponsored all three laws.
Angara also said the Senate youth committee will take up the proposal of other colleagues, specifically Senators Loren Legarda, Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada and Imee Marcos, especially on the bills that would encourage the new generation of Filipinos to take up farming and fishery as a viable career option.