Unemployment Problems in Barcelona's Youth

08 November 2010
Unemployment has been a major problem for Barcelona for many years.  The youngest age group specifically has been the focus of a lot of unemployment in recent years.  A new project called “Suma’t” has been launched by the City Council and Catalan government to try and stop this unemployment from continuing or getting worse.  Over 25,000 between the ages of 24 and 28 are currently out of school and unemployed.  Over 1,500 people in Barcelona (5,000 in all of Catalonia) between the ages of 18 and 24 who have not graduated from high school are currently unemployed but eligible for this new program.  This program uses professional career guidance, training, and employment contracts to compel young people out of work to get their act together.  The program would provide specific training for the individuals and then even a 6-month employment contract for the participants who are successful in the training.  The 14 million Euro budget in Barcelona (20 million total including Catalonia) will hopefully be enough to get this project launched and on its way towards success.  Jordie Hereu, the Mayor, discussed the need for the participants of this project to show desire for higher education and work or they will not be successful.  He makes a good point, it is essentially a two-way street, and even though the program does try to do some of the hard work for them, if it is not reciprocated, these people will get nowhere.  The program is not meant to do the work for them, but give these struggling people a leg up and a push in the right direction.