Young people work as much as not since the 1990s. Students in particular often follow part -time jobs than a few years ago. In doing so, they refute common prejudices.
The employment of young people has grown strongly and above average since 2015. This is the conclusion of a study by the Institute for Labor Market and Vocational Research (IAB). After that, the employment of the 20 to 24 year olds rose to 79.5 percent between 2015 and 2023.
Data from the microcensus, the Federal Employment Agency (BA) and the population statistics of the Federal Statistical Office were used for the evaluation. Only data on people with German citizenship were analyzed. If you only look at the microcensus, the employment participation of young people was around 76 percent.
Quote maybe even higher
Depending on the calculation method, the employee participation of the age group has increased by around five or six percent, the IAB researchers write. Such a large proportion of young people recently worked in the mid -1990s.
The current employment rate of young people could even be underestimated in a historical comparison. Because before 1996, according to the authors, unemployed people who were not immediately available were counted in the employment rate. These are today shown separately in the statistics “silent reserve”.
More than half of the students work
The higher employment participation of younger people is primarily due to a growing proportion of students with part -time jobs: the employment rate among students between the ages of 20 and 24 between 2015 and 2023 increased by 19.3 percentage points to 56 percent. At the same time, the employment rate has also increased among all non -students in this age group in the period mentioned – by 1.6 percentage points to 85.9 percent.
In view of the numbers, IAB research area manager Enzo Weber emphasized: “The fact that Generation Z demands a lot, but does little work is a common prejudice. But it is wrong. The young people are hardworking than for a long time.”
