On Thursday 2nd January 2014, the BBC World Service show “World Have Your Say” decided to give a platform to several unemployed young people around the world, and me.
A study for the Princes Trust found many young people feel they have “nothing to live for”, and as a direct result of long-term unemployment have actually considered taking their own lives.
Hearing from unemployed young people around the world, we discussed the effects of joblessness such as feeling demoralised, having panic attacks and a total sense of hopelessness – not to mention some of the horrors people have to go through in some parts of the world in order to get a job. Bertha, a journalist in Nairobi, told us that she has been propositioned with “sleeping with someone to get employment“.
You can listen here, and here are a few tweets from the show:
.@howtobejobless “Being jobless is not a collective thing, it’s actually quite isolating” #WHYS
— World Have Your Say (@BBC_WHYS) January 2, 2014
@BBC_WHYS @howtobejobless the worst part is the isolation. — Joseph (@VeganJosephinSD) January 2, 2014
@BBC_WHYS @howtobejobless It is a terrible feeling. I suffered through it 25 years ago and never forgot it. — Pompousitus (@pompousitus) January 2, 2014
@BBC_WHYS @howtobejobless In Ethiopia no matter how educated you are if you don’t have some one at the top or pay bribe you never get a job.
— assefa (@abe952001) January 2, 2014
Suraj, who works as a cleaner despite having a masters degree tells #WHYS “I wake up and ask what’s the point in carrying on?”
— World Have Your Say (@BBC_WHYS) January 2, 2014
“Finding employment in Nairobi is almost impossible” Bertha, a trained journalist who struggled to find work tells #WHYS
— World Have Your Say (@BBC_WHYS) January 2, 2014
.@thequiffisdead tells #WHYS “Looking for jobs for months on end is demoralising”
— World Have Your Say (@BBC_WHYS) January 2, 2014
Sarah in Oxford tells #WHYS “I had sucidal thoughts and asked myself what was the point in living?”
— World Have Your Say (@BBC_WHYS) January 2, 2014
“People don’t respond to you. You are left hanging a lot of the time” Megan in Northern Ireland tells #WHYS
— World Have Your Say (@BBC_WHYS) January 2, 2014
