Revealing the Long-Term Youth Unemployment in Croatia – A Mixed Method Study

Abstract

Long-term unemployment rates, especially among the young, are at record low levels in the EU. However, despite continuously posting economic growth rates above the EU-27 average and low unemployment rates, Croatia’s long-term
youth unemployment rate remains above the EU-27 average. The aim of this paper is to explore the predictors of long-term youth unemployment in Croatia in order to gain a deeper insight into the reasons for this adverse outcome. Our results suggest that higher adaptive problem solving, numeracy
and literacy skills are associated with a significantly lower probability of prolonged unemployment among young people who had not participated in training over the previous 12 months. In addition, better social skills are also associated with a lower probability of suffering long-term unemployment, with
their importance being recognized by both young people and Croatian Employment Service case workers.