  Youth unemployment rates are still in alerting levels for many countries,
among which Italy. Direct consequences include poverty, social exclusion, and
criminal behaviours, while negative impact on the future employability and wage
cannot be obscured. In this study, we employ survey data together with social
media data, and in particular likes on Facebook Pages, to analyse personality,
moral values, but also cultural elements of the young unemployed population in
Italy. Our findings show that there are small but significant differences in
personality and moral values, with the unemployed males to be less agreeable
while females more open to new experiences. At the same time, unemployed have a
more collectivist point of view, valuing more in-group loyalty, authority, and
purity foundations. Interestingly, topic modelling analysis did not reveal
major differences in interests and cultural elements of the unemployed.
Utilisation patterns emerged though; the employed seem to use Facebook to
connect with local activities, while the unemployed use it mostly as for
entertainment purposes and as a source of news, making them susceptible to
mis/disinformation. We believe these findings can help policymakers get a
deeper understanding of this population and initiatives that improve both the
hard and the soft skills of this fragile population.
