Youth bulges and youth unemployment

The youth population bulge is often mentioned in discussions of youth unemployment and unrest in developing countries, most recently in explaining the “Arab Spring.” But the youth share of the population has fallen rapidly in recent decades in most countries, and is projected to continue to fall. Evidence on the link between youth population bulges and youth unemployment is mixed. It should not be assumed that declines in the relative size of the youth population will translate into falling youth unemployment in coming decades without further policy measures to improve the youth labor market.