Overview
- The labour minister told the Congressional Budget Commission that roughly 1.5 million Peruvian youth are 'ninis' who neither study nor work and that about 500,000 of them also show no intention to enter school or the labour market.
- Independent analysis from the Instituto Peruano de Economía shows a persistent youth employment shortfall versus 2019, estimating 330,000 young jobs still missing and that 76% of employed young people work in informal jobs.
- Ministry figures highlight structural informality: nearly all firms are micro or small, about 88% of those are informal, and roughly 10.5 million workers are in this segment with about half being young employees.
- The government is asking for facultades legislativas to reform labour rules to promote formalization and adapt to automation and artificial intelligence, and the minister argued that disengaged youth can increase public‑security risks.
- Policy choices now include boosting growth and updating education and training to fix skills mismatches, but proposals face political pushback and will affect young people’s access to rights such as health coverage, pensions and paid leave.