Youth-led protests across the Global North and South point to a crisis of the welfare state. Analyse.

In 2025 global youth (15–24) unemployment rose to 12.4%, about 67 million people, and one in five young people was NEET [1]. Youth have taken to the streets in many places: Sri Lanka's Aragalaya, Bangladesh's quota agitation and school protests in France. Their anger is aimed more and more at a state that is pulling back from jobs, education and social protection. This points to a crisis of the welfare state, though welfare is not the only cause.

Economic dimension: fewer jobs for new entrants

• Entry-level jobs are shrinking, including clerical, sales and manufacturing roles. Youth unemployment rose in 8 of 11 subregions between 2023 and 2025 [1].
• Austerity costs jobs: IMF economists found that fiscal consolidation is usually followed by lower output and higher long-term unemployment [2].

Social dimension: exclusion that headline data hides

• Informality: nearly 9 in 10 young workers (15–29) in low- and lower-middle-income countries work informally, without social protection [1].
• India's paradox: youth (15–29) unemployment is 9.9% (PLFS 2025) [3], yet the youth NEET rate is 24.7%, among the highest in the G20 [4]. Educated youth face a skills mismatch, and many young women have stopped looking for work.

Political dimension: a legitimacy deficit

• The protests have moved from welfare demands to challenging governments themselves. Examples include Sri Lanka's economic collapse, Bangladesh's job quotas and cuts to school staff in France.
• Young people see a broken social contract: they did everything "right" and still have no secure work.

Counter-view: welfare is not the whole story

• Youth unemployment hit a two-decade low in 2023 under the same policy model. The ILO also blames geopolitical tensions and rapid technological change for the recent rise [1].
• Some triggers are about governance, such as corruption, nepotism and curbs on online speech. The IMF also accepts that some indebted countries had little fiscal choice [2].

Taken together, these protests show a crisis in the state's contract with its youth. Austerity is a major driver, but weak governance and technological change add to it. India should publish NEET rates in PLFS releases, protect education and skilling during FRBM consolidation, and fully fund apprenticeship and youth-employment guarantees. That would honour Article 41 (right to work and education) and SDG Target 8.6, and turn the demographic dividend into an asset rather than a source of unrest.