Amsterdam youth unemployment fell 14 pct so far this year

Amsterdam's commitment to tackling youth unemployment seems to be paying off. The youth unemployment rate has been falling steadily since the beginning of the year, and is now 14 percent lower than it was on January 1st. On January 1st a total of 2,700 young people were receiving some form of welfare benefit. In mid-October, that number has dropped down to 2,300, the municipality announced in a press release on Friday. Between January and August this year the Amsterdam municipality worked with, among others, schools, employers and community organizations to get 3,393 young people to school or work. Their goal is to do this for a total of 5,250 by the end of the year. Responsible alderman Arjan Vliegenthart said that this is a team effort and everyone must participate. "For our Amsterdam youth that means that they go to school or start working. If they can not manage that themselves, we give them a helping hand." This forms part of the Attack Plan Youth Unemployment 2015-2018, which the city council created in November last year.