Young, Greek and unemployed

by Dody Tsiantar

Fortune
March 2, 2011

In Greek mythology, the god Cronus devoured five of his offspring to prevent them from overpowering him. Only Zeus, with his mother Rhea's help, escaped the fate of his siblings. Greece's youth, hit hard by the after effects of the debt crisis, may be feeling a bit like one of Cronus's unlucky children these days-as if they are about to be swallowed whole by an economic situation that is leaving many of them feeling hopeless about what the future holds.

The situation for many under the age of 35 in this country of 11 million is close to desperate. Unemployment for those between the ages of 15 and 24 rang in at an alarming 35.6% at the end of November, the latest statistics available. Youth unemployment, of course, is widely considered one of the drivers to the current unrest in the Middle East, It's also a global problem, according to the International Labor Organization, which called the growing number of the world's unemployed young people, "a lost generation" in a recently released report.

In Spain alone, the youth unemployment rate is over 40%. But in Greece, the issue resonates within the broader context of the debt crisis that has plagued the country since December of 2009. And if you add in the unemployment rate for those between 25 and 34 -- 17.9% -- it becomes clear that Greeks under the age of 35 are bearing a disproportionate part of the burden stemming from the country's financial difficulties.

"It's one of the most serious problems facing this country," says respected columnist and journalist Stavros Lygeros of Kathimerini, the largest daily newspaper in Greece.

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