Number of EU Students Outside Labour Force Peaks at 78%, Eurostat Reveals

According to the European Office for Statistics, three per cent of students were looking for a job or were available to work, with such rates varying across the Member States, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.

More specifically, the Netherlands was the country with the highest share of students and interns aged 15-29 working while still in education, as 70 per cent of the Dutch students are engaged in such employment endeavours, while the lowest rates were recorded in Romania as only two per cent of the students in this category are working.

Other countries with similar rates as Romania are Slovakia (four per cent), Hungary and Bulgaria (both five per cent), while countries with the best results, except for the Netherlands, were Denmark (49 per cent) and Germany (42 per cent).

“The highest share of students and apprentices aged 15-29 who were unemployed (meaning that they were looking for a job and available to start working while studying) was recorded in Sweden (14 per cent), followed by Finland (nine per cent) and the Netherlands (seven per cent). On the other hand, less than one per cent of students and apprentices in that age group were unemployed in Czechia, Romania, Hungary and Croatia,” Eurostat explains.

Data from Eurostat further shows that the share of women participating in formal education is considerably higher than those of men, especially within the age group of 20-24 years, as 54 per cent of women that are students within this age group are either working or are engaged in internships compared to 45 per cent of men.

These rates are reflected in data of young adults in labour status and participating in education as 39 per cent of men between 20 and 24 years, compared to 34 per cent of women.

There is an evident discrepancy in people not participating in education as the share of men not in education and employed, is 70 per cent – drastically higher than women (62 per cent).

Alternatively, more women than men aged 25-29 were not in education and outside the labour force (16 per cent compared with seven per cent).