Abstract
This study explored the experiences and implications of transitioning from school to work without family support for university graduates in Uganda. The research was a qualitative exploratory study in Kampala city, Uganda. The data was collected through in-depth individual interviews with university graduates (first-degree graduates). The research findings showed that young men and women, upon graduation, strongly believe that the family is obliged to support their transition from school to work. The implications of not being supported by the family include prolonged unemployment and the risk of falling into the Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET) category, engaging in precarious and informal work as they queue waiting for formal employment that matches attained educational qualifications, emotional stress, and the dependence on friends for survival. The graduates' most expected forms of family support include financial support for job search expenses and practical job search assistance through informal networks. However, there is also a strong feeling that the family should support the graduates by providing capital for small businesses (self-employment), which they can depend on during the transition period. The desire for self-employment can be attributed to the fact that many youths in developing countries are self-employed. In Uganda, self-employed young people constitute three-quarters of the working young persons. Key words: Family support, labour market, school-to-work transition, Uganda, youth transition.
Highlights
The youth pursue transitions in diverse life spheres such as work, education, family, sexuality, lifestyles, civil life etc. (Biggart and Walther, 2006; Dey and Morris, 1999; Morrow and Richards, 1996)
The findings are structured under the following headings; graduates' perception of the relevance of family support during school-to-work transition, the expected forms of family support during school-to-work transition, the forms of support that the graduates received during the transition, the reasons for the lack or absence of family support, the alternative sources of support and the effects of the lack of family support during the school-to-work transition
Youth-oriented Active Labour Market Policies (ALMPs) like job search assistance is essential for school-to-work transition, but such a policy should be diversified to include access to information, financial assistance and counseling services because several graduates testified that they suffered from stress and the feeling of being abandoned during school-to-work transition without family support
Summary
The youth pursue transitions in diverse life spheres such as work, education, family, sexuality, lifestyles, civil life etc. (Biggart and Walther, 2006; Dey and Morris, 1999; Morrow and Richards, 1996). Several factors play a role in the transition to the labour market; individual factors like gender, disability, ethnicity and educational achievement, the family and social background and the policies that facilitate the youth to transition to the labour market etc. Much research has focused on state policies that facilitate the transition of the youth into the labour market and the role that individual characteristics like gender and educational level play. Several studies in the past and recently have pointed out that the family plays a role in youth transitions both in the labour market and other spheres of life (Dey and Morris, 1999; Hardgrove et al, 2015; Kovacheva, 2010). The fact that there is limited research on family support during school-to-work transition in Uganda and Sub-Saharan Africa as a whole means there is little literature for reference purposes
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