Austerity, spread all over the planet, produces the first victim: work. According to the 2012 Report of the ILO, the International Labor Organization, growth policies are insufficient, on a global level, to defeat the disease of unemployment.
So much so that according to the data released today in Geneva, in the world there are 6 million more unemployed this year, for a total of 202 million people. The study also estimates that another 80 million individuals will enter the labor market in the next two years, during which time the world economy will not grow enough to fill this gap and create the necessary jobs.
Particularly worrying is the trend in Europe, where since 2010, according to the ILO, the unemployment rate has increased in two thirds of member countries, while it did not show significant signs of improvement in the USA and Japan. Even in China, the labor supply is not matching the demand. “In the old continent – explains the United Nations agency – fiscal austerity programs are only making the jobs crisis worse. First, this is due to the fact that many governments - the document reads - especially in advanced economies, have prioritized a combination of austerity measures and drastic labor market reforms. The report states that these measures have disastrous consequences on labor markets in general and on job creation in particular. In most cases, these measures have not led to a reduction in deficits”.
“The excessive weight that many eurozone countries place on fiscal austerity is worsening the jobs crisis and could lead to another recession in Europe,” he also added Raymond Torres, Director of the ILO's International Institute for Social Studies and lead author of the Report.
According to the International Labor Organization the consequence of this situation is the increased risk of social instability, particularly in Europe and North Africa (in 57 out of 106 countries the risks of social tensions increased in 2011 compared to 2010), while the causes must be sought precisely in the excessive financial rigor policies imposed by many countries to give relief to the markets, but also in the growing difficulties in accessing credit, which block the activity especially of small and medium enterprises.
One of the possible solutions, according to the ILO report, would be, in the European case, that of relaunch the effectiveness of the EIB, the European Investment Bank, which should facilitate lending to foster growth.
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Attachments: World of Work Report 2012.pdf
