﻿Governments in Europe dream of finding a magic solution to rising unemployment. But, in the poorest parts of the EU, unemployment continues to rise.
Now, in Sardinia, Italy, a mayor thinks he has found an answer to his town’s unemployment problem. Valter Piscedda, the mayor of Elmas, a small town near Sardinia’s capital, Cagliari, wants to pay residents to leave. The town will pay for ten unemployed local people to take English lessons, get on a cheap flight and look for jobs in other parts of Europe.
“This idea comes from common sense and experience, ” he told the Guardian. “In the past year and a half – especially in the past few months – I have seen young people, almost every day, who have lost hope that they will find work. Some ask for help in finding work here. Others have tried everything and, now, they want to go and gain work experience abroad; life experience, too.”
So he decided to help people who want to gain experience abroad.
Sardinia, and also much of southern and central Italy, is struggling with high unemployment. Unemployment was at 17.7% in the second quarter of 2014, according to Italy’s National Institute of Statistics. More than 54% of people under 25 are out of work.