Two questions Essay | Unemployment

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

Unemployment remains the biggest challenge to school-leavers in most countries.

How far do you agree with this assessment? What other challenges face young people today?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own experience or knowledge.

Write at least 250 words.

Model Answer: [Agreement]

Adolescents face several challenges on their path to adulthood and successful career, and it becomes even more difficult for school-leavers as sorting their ways out in the employment market seem to be the immediate obstacle they encounter. Besides, safety is another concern for many youngsters and this essay shed some light on the topic.

Regarding youth unemployment, scepticism harboured by employers over hiring school-leavers seems to be the reasons behind their unemployment in many countries, especially in third-world countries where managing a job is tough. Employers usually look for experienced workers who possess practical skills and at least a college degree. Hence, school-leavers with no prior experiences are often placed on the bottom of the shortlist(候选名单). For instance, due to unemployment, many university graduates apply for simple clerical(relating to work done in an office 办公室工作的) jobs and that makes the scenario for school-leavers even more baffling(impossible for someone to understand or explain 难以理解的).

Moreover, limited job prospect is also a huge problem for them.  Even the school-leavers are lucky enough to secure a job, they have to work long hours with low wages and they do not have sufficient time and money to pursue higher academic qualifications needed for career progression. Consequently, they are being trapped in lower positions with limited social mobility.

Sadly, young people are not only challenged by employment problems in many developing countries. They may consistently live under the threat of political instability, social unrest, outbreaks of disease, natural disasters, drought and famine, sexual and racial discrimination, child marriage, all of which are beyond control and the ability to cope for young people. These risks pose actual threats to the physical safety of youngsters in addition to their livelihoods.  The situation may be reflected by the significantly lower life expectancy of people living in developing countries.

To conclude, unemployment is one of the major problems for young people, especially for school-leavers. However, the lacks of safety, social unrest, abuse, natural disaster are also serious problems for them in parts of the world.