this is reflected in the unemployment rates of young adults aged which tend to be about onethird higher than the overall unemployment rate compared with a difference of on oecd average it is also reflected in the development of socalled freeters see box the survey on human resource strategies and work awareness in the population decreasing society reveals that companies with a positive attitude towards skills development are not much inclined to recruit freeters as regular workers and are likely to set a relatively low upper limit on the age of freeters who can be recruited mitani