High Youth Unemployment Rates Research Articles

Inclusive Finance and Rural Youth

This working paper deepens the analysis on inclusive finance and rural youth through cutting-age research and new insights and approaches that have emerged over the years in the field. The overall narrative clear ly documents the ways in which rural youth engage with the economy, policy and institutions and identifies the rapid changes occurring across the globe as well as the opportunities and challenges that young people living in rural areas encounter in their different livelihoods. Within this context, financial inclusion has gained attention as a key contributing factor to unlock the potential of rural youth in driving sustainable and inclusive rural transformation. This paper investigates how recent developments in this sector entail new opportunities for rural youth, and highlights persisting barriers that prevent rural youth from accessing financial and non-financial services, making the case for a market system approach to financial inclusion with specific attention given to digital finance. The youth employment challenge is a global development priority. In many developing countries, high youth unemployment rates, significant proportions of working poor in vulnerable employment and economic disengagement together pose the risk of creating disaffection, driving migration, inciting social unrest and slowing progress toward development goals. The paper documents the increasing body of evidence about the positive link between financial inclusion and individual welfare, business creation and women’s empowerment but also highlights the body of research that questions such a positive narrative, pointing out the lack of a sound and functional financial inclusion ecosystem.

Youth Unemployment and Terrorism in Nigeria: The Case of “Boko Haram”

The increasing social vices in Nigeria such as kidnapping, armed robbery, political thuggery and terrorism are indicators of a national doom. Kidnappings are done for ransom from the victims, while armed robbery, political thuggery, and terrorism are engaged for financial gains and selfish interest. These criminal activities negatively affect the peace, security, and development of the nation. This study examines the relationship between youth unemployment and Boko Haram terrorism in Nigeria. This study relies on secondary data and adopted the frustration-aggression theory as its theoretical framework. The study revealed that high rate of youth unemployment in northeast Nigeria has provided foot soldiers for the Boko Haram elites. More so, available data show youth unemployment rate in Nigeria is so high, and these criminal engagements are attributed to it. As a way forward, the study recommends amongst others that, the Nigerian government should identify the causes of youth unemployment and intensify efforts at youth unemployment reduction as such efforts will reduce poverty and take care of other needs of the youths.

Tourism as Indices for Sustainable Development in Cross River State, Nigeria

The main focus of this study was to examine tourism as indices for sustainable development of the people of Cross River State, Nigeria. Specifically, the study examined the extent to which tourism contributes to improved social status, and increased educational opportunities of the people of Cross River State. These two variables formed the objectives and hypotheses used for the study. Relevant literatures were reviewed while Endogenous Development Model constituted the theoretical framework for the study. The research design employed was a survey design, with a sample of 400 respondents selected using the Taro Yamene's (1967) sample size determination technique. Multi-stage sampling techniques were used to select respondents from the delineated clusters using an 18-item questionnaire as an instrument. Demographic data were presented using simple percentages, while hypotheses were tested with two statistical tools. Hypotheses one was analyzed using the one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) while hypothesis two used linear regression statistical method all at 0.05 level of significance. The study found out that there is a significant relationship between tourism and improved social status as well as increased educational opportunities for sustainable development of the people of Cross River State, Nigeria. The study concluded that in spite of the high recognition of the state as the tourist base of the nation, the multiplier effect on individuals, and sustainable development is still not very noticeable. This is also the case with the internally generated revenue of the state, high rate of youth unemployment, youth restiveness, poor road network and poor manpower development. From the study, it was therefore recommended that the Government of Cross River state should intensify efforts in expanding the tourism sector to other areas in dire need of tourism potential such as cultural tourism. (Word count: 306)

Influence of Demographic Factors on Business Performance in Ethiopia

Ethiopia, as a developing country has a higher level of youth unemployment combined with a higher level of growth in the economy, in the recent past. In Ethiopia, the youth entrepreneurship has been regarded as a tool for employment creation. However, the country is faced with the challenge of high youth unemployment rates. Still, the country is one of the lowest rates of youth entrepreneurial activity and business survival in the sub-Saharan African region. This research is supposed to fill the gaps by investigating the major effect of demographic variables with youth owned business performance. Further, the research employed both a descriptive survey and exploratory research design with a sample size of 350 youth entrepreneurs. The results obtained from a multiple regression model indicate that age, educational level and prior work experience of the youth entrepreneur were found to be positive and significantly important in explaining the perceived business performance. The implications of this study are that specific policy measures are necessary to encourage the many well trained but unemployed young people to engage in businesses. Additionally it also implies that specific training programmes are necessary to equip the practitioners with necessary theoretical and practical capacities to enhance performance of their firms.

Youth‐oriented active labour market policies and economic crisis: Explaining policy effort in Greece and Portugal

AbstractThe starting point of this study is the implementation of seemingly similar youth‐oriented labour market policies in Greece and Portugal. Both countries have suffered high youth unemployment rates and have been pressured to restructure their labour market as part of the rescue programmes adopted during the European sovereign debt crisis. Despite convergence in terms of policy trajectories, there is a significant divergence in employment outcomes. In Portugal, youth‐oriented policies were better‐targeted and structured. Their implementation has been more effective and has involved the social partners from the outset of the crisis. In Greece, policy design failures, administrative weaknesses and unfavourable macroeconomic conditions have limited the dynamics of youth‐oriented policies thus increasing youth insecurity. Τhe analysis suggests that convergence in policy content can be compatible with divergence in terms of outcomes.

Navigating the early career: The social stratification of young workers’ employment trajectories in Italy

This paper contributes to the debate on early-career precariousness and inequalities against the backdrop of labour market deregulation. The analyses focus on a cohort of young Italian workers who entered the labour market after the deregulatory reforms of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Instead of looking at the timing of isolated transitions between employment states, 7-year-long trajectories are considered to identify differences by gender and education in the probability of experiencing more stable and protected early-careers. Italy is a particularly interesting country-case because of its high youth unemployment rates and difficult school-to-work transitions into the protected labour market segment. The analyses draw on AD-SILC, a unique data source that combines administrative records of complete employment histories and survey data and offers an unprecedented, highly detailed distinction between a wide range of non-standard employment relationships. Applying sequence analysis, eight early-career types characterized by different degrees of employment continuity and stability are identified. Multivariate logistic regression estimates show that women—especially if lower-educated—are more likely than men to experience pathways characterized by instability and weak (or absent) employment and social security protection, that ultimately lead to more precarious early careers.

Jóvenes que ni estudian ni trabajan (‘NINIS’): una aproximación a sus características en el marco socioeconómico y político actual en la provincia de Sevilla (España)

En este artículo se analiza la formación y actitudes hacia el empleo del colectivo social denominado NINI –jóvenes que ni estudian ni trabajan– en el marco sociopolítico actual, marcado por una alta tasa de desempleo juvenil que se mantiene a pesar de la recuperación económica pregonada en los últimos meses. Su finalidad es conocer las características socioculturales en las que han crecido y su valoración acerca de la formación académica recibida para su desarrollo personal, social y laboral. Para alcanzar este objetivo se ha recurrido a una metodología mixta fundamentada en un enfoque cuantitativo y cualitativo. Los instrumentos utilizados para la recogida de los datos han sido la entrevista y el cuestionario. Los resultados obtenidos muestran la heterogeneidad de este colectivo, en el que existe una mayor presencia de jóvenes que buscan empleo activamente, con estudios postobligatorios y superiores, frente a la imagen tradicional que los identifica como jóvenes ociosos, desinteresados y sin formación ni cualificación profesional.

Jobactive and young job seekers: Strengths, limitations, and suggested improvements to current practices

AbstractThis paper explores the efficacy of current employment services in Australia, jobactive, from the perspectives of young job seekers and their employment officers. As high youth unemployment rates and the efficacy of jobactive employment services are currently areas of priority for the Australian Government, the study offers a timely contribution to the social policy and youth employment literature by exploring the tensions experienced by young job seekers while registered with a jobactive provider, and employment officers when assisting young people to find sustainable employment. The study analyses data from 46 interviews with young job seekers and their employment officers in an outer western Melbourne region. The findings reveal particular concerns about appropriate and adequate service provision for marginalized young job seekers that are similar to those in evaluations of previous marketwise employment service contracts, Job Network and Job Services Australia. Suggestions for tailored employment assistance for young job seekers to gain sustainable employment are offered for future consideration.

Growth-youth unemployment nexus in upper-middle-income countries in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract. The issue concerning growth-youth unemployment nexus has not been verified with respect to upper middle-income countries (UMIC) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The importance of this paper is to ascertain the relationship between economic growth and youth unemployment based on panel and individual countries data in term of annual series data from 1991 to 2017. To achieve the objective of this paper, data were sourced from the World Bank development indicators, for GDP growth rate and youth unemployment rate. Several statistical and econometric tests were conducted, the results obtained revealed that the average GDP-growth rate was 6.36% while youth unemployment rate was 32.30% for UMIC in SSA. The individual countries statistics indicated that Gabon has the highest GDP-growth rate of 21.01% while the highest youth unemployment rate was in South Africa with 47.30%. The lowest GDP-growth rate was observed in South Africa while the lowest youth unemployment was observed in Equatorial Guinea with 11.69%. The empirical results indicated that there exists a long-run and positive relationship between the variables of GDP-growth rate and youth unemployment rate in UMIC in SSA and that Okun’s law is not applicable in these countries. Based on the results obtained statistically it revealed high rate of youth unemployment and low rate of GDP-growth within the period of study, hence this paper suggest that individual countries in the UMIC in SSA should implement youth employment scheme in order to reduce the level of unemployment with respect to this age cohort. Creation of jobs for youth will help to reduce the economic and social costs associated with youth unemployment especially in countries like South Arica, Namibia, Botswana and Gabon. The UMIC in SSA are encouraged to boost their level of economic activities through investment in order to stimulate employment of young-able body persons in UMIC in SSA. Keywords. Economic growth, Youth unemployment, Upper middle-income countries, Sub-Saharan Africa, Okuns’s coefficient. JEL. O40, O57, J64.

Youth unemployment and employment trajectories in Spain during the Great Recession: what are the determinants?

Since the beginning of the recession period in Europe, unemployment has greatly affected the young adult population. In this context, Spain is regarded as an extreme case, due to its exceptionally high youth unemployment rates. This article seeks to identify the determinants that have led certain groups of Spanish young people to suffer labour market trajectories with higher levels of unemployment and instability during the Great Recession than others. To do this, retrospective data from the 2012 Catalan Youth Survey are used. With these data and using cluster analysis, a typology of labour market trajectories is constructed. Next, multinomial logistic regressions are used to identify what individual socio-demographic characteristics and pre-crisis employment experiences are connected to these different typological career paths. Results show that the highly differentiated career paths are associated with different social profiles and differences in the presence of unemployment. Moreover, interesting differences among the most unstable career paths appear. For the most vulnerable social profiles the employment trajectory prior to the crisis seems to point towards the existence of an entrapment in low-skilled jobs that alternate with situations of unemployment. For those with a slightly better position their employment situation after the initiation of the crisis seems to have been impacted by their brief labour market trajectory before the crisis and their resulting work experience gap.

The Impact of ICT Training on Income Generation Opportunities for Vulnerable Young Adults in Lebanon

The aim of this study was to identify if acquiring ICT skills through DOT Lebanon’s ICT training program (a local NGO) improved income generation opportunities after 3-months of completing the training. The target population was the NGO’s vulnerable young beneficiaries. This study was completed in an effort to find creative and digital solutions to the high rate of youth unemployment in Lebanon (37%), one of the highest rates in the world. Results showed that 48% of beneficiaries who were unemployed at baseline, were exposed to at least one income generation opportunity 3 months after completing the DOT Lebanon training. Also, 49% of beneficiaries who were already employed at baseline were exposed to at least one income generation opportunity. Gender, English proficiency and governorate were variables that were found to be statistically significant. Males were more likely than females to be exposed to income generation opportunities. Those who knew little English had better chances than those who had no English proficiency. Beneficiaries living in the capital Beirut were more likely than others to be exposed to income generation opportunities.

What characteristics in the youth labour market of Serbia are likely to result in employment?

In stark contrast to certain EU member countries, Serbia faces a high youth unemployment rate of over 30% (34.9% in 2016, 32.8% in 2017 and 31% in 2018). This paper provides a logistic regression analysis of what characteristics among youth (15-30 years of age) contribute to the likelihood of their employment in Serbia. While youth is internationally defined as being between the ages of 15-24, this paper broadens it to 15-30, as it is defined in Serbia (RS) for the purposes of youth employment/unemployment and for the country?s ?National Youth Strategy from 2015 to 2025.? The study was conducted using micro data from the Labour Force Survey provided on request from the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia. The indicators that affect whether a young person will be employed or not are: the financial background of the participant?s household, earnings, age, gender, and total years of work experience. Theoretically, although it may be anticipated that unemployed individuals who have greater work experience find it easier to find a job, employment does seem to automatically generate longer working hours. The results of the research are both practical and scientific, as they may not only assist policy-makers in the process of writing strategies on youth employment, but also bear groundwork for further study.

Students’ Career Aspirations towards Entrepreneurial and Managerial Jobs: A Comparative Study in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia

In conditions of significant high youth unemployment rates in the transition countries of Southeast Europe, the subject of special interest of public administration and the academic community is researching the connection between stimulating entrepreneurial activity and launching independent entrepreneurial ventures and self-employment. Also, the subjectof research interest is factors influencing the entrepreneurial affinities andintentions of youth, who are finishing the process of formal education andtrying to get involved in the world of work, either as employees or employers.The subject research was conducted on a purposive (deliberate)sample of 448 respondents in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) andSerbia, collected through online questionnaire, with the aim of comparingcareer aspirations of youth towards entrepreneurial and managerial jobs.The research is an extension of the interest of the academic community,complements the previous intense research from the region of SoutheastEurope and gives a scientific contribution by modifying and testingpreviously conducted empirical research in BiH and Croatia (Umihanić,Đonlagić Alibegović & Alfirević, 2018), extending the sample to Serbia,where significant research of this kind has not been conducted. The results,obtained by using descriptive statistics, analysis of variance (F-Test) andPost Hoc Fisher’s LSD test for testing research hypothesis, indicate thatthere are significant differences in the career orientation of the surveyedstudents between three observed countries. In Croatia and Serbia, the impactof society and national culture is neither favourable for entering entrepreneurship,nor for a managerial career. Attitudes are somewhat morefavourable in BiH, but not significantly more favourable in comparison toSerbia and Croatia.

Constructing respectability from disfavoured social positions: exploring young femininities and health as shaped by marginalisation and social context. A qualitative study in Northern Sweden

ABSTRACTBackground: Gender, class and living conditions shape health and illness. However, few studies have investigated constructs of femininity in relation to health and living conditions among young women who are unemployed and marginalised at an early age.Objective: The aim of this research was to elucidate constructs of femininities in relation to structuring living conditions and expressions of health in Northern Swedish women. The time period of interest was the transition from unemployed teenagers to young adults in a social context of high unemployment and societal change across the critical ‘school-to-work-transition’ period of the life course.Methods: Qualitative content analysis was used to analyse data from repeated interviews with unemployed young women, aged 16–33 years, during the 1980s and 1990s. These longitudinal interviews were part of a cohort study in a ‘remote’ municipality in Northern Sweden that began in 1981. All girls who were not in education, employment, or training were selected for interview. An inductive analysis phase was followed by a theoretically informed phase. The contextual frame is the Nordic welfare-state model and the ‘caring state’ with its particular focus on basic and secondary education, and women’s participation in the labour market. This focus paralleled high rates of youth unemployment in northern Sweden during the study period.Results: The results are presented as the theme of ‘constructing respectability from disfavoured social positions’. Within this theme, and framed by dominant norms of patriarchal femininity, we explored the constructs of normative and altruistic, norm-breaking, and troubled femininity.Conclusions: Gender-sensitive interventions are needed to strengthen young women’s further education and positions in the labour market and to preventing exposure to violence. More research on health experiences related to the multitude of constructs of femininities in various social contexts and across the life course is needed to help design and implement such interventions.

The Impact of Education on the Youth Labour Market in Serbia

The high rate of youth unemployment is an issue that is largely present in developing countries, such as Serbia. The results of the research will provide a major contribution whether education has an impact on the labour market among young people in Serbia. Decision tree was performed to identify impact constructs. In order to define public policies, an insight is provided into the characteristics of young people that largely contribute to the probability of being employed. The results showed that education has an impact on youth unemployment. Results of the research will be useful for decision makers in the implementation of a strategic model of the labour market. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed in the paper.

Competencias para la empleabilidad de los titulados en Pedagogía, Psicología y Psicopedagogía: un estudio comparativo entre empleadores y titulados

The labour market integration of recent graduates can be influenced by several factors, such as the economic situation of the country, the quality of their university education, and the demands of the labour market. Although the Spanish economy has recently recovered somewhat, it still has high rates of youth unemployment, even among the best educated groups. Therefore, it is important to analyse in greater depth the transversal competences required and offered in the labour market as these can affect the integration and job satisfaction of university graduates. To analyse the differences in the view of graduates in Pedagogy, Psychology, and Educational Psychology and their employers regarding the competences needed for the labour market this article uses data from the AQU’s ‘Universitat i Treball a Catalunya’ survey (2014a and 2014b) of graduates in these subjects from Catalan universities and of their employers. The results show discrepancies between employers’ and graduates’ views. On the one hand, graduates regard some competences as more relevant, such as decision-making, while employers give greater importance to others, such as those relating to information technology and language skills, as well as theoretical and practical training. However, both groups agree that teamwork is the most important competence for work, supporting results obtained in other studies. Furthermore, employers are more satisfied than the graduates with their level in the areas of creativity, computer science, and languages. Problem-solving, however, is an area of competence that could be enhanced in university education. This study’s contribution is to provide evidence based on the retrospective assessment of recent graduates that can help align university training with employers’ expectations.

Poslovni inkubator u funkciji razvoja preduzetništva mladih

The redevelopment of entrepreneurship has become a core issue for strengthening the economic development of Serbia. It is particularly important to develop a generation of young entrepreneurs as soon as possible in order to reduce the high rate of youth unemployment. Presented case study of a competition of young people with entrepreneurial ideas under the organization and support of Business Incubator Subotica (BIS) offers an example of successful initiatives in the development of cooperation of interested young people and their involvement in the economy. With the applied method of stakeholder analysis and social networking considering the functions and roles of participants in competition, the essential communication channels are detected providing recommendations for the expansion of cooperation within the circle of interested parties. Results prove the assumption that business incubators with their established business communication lines and built-in position are suitable for launching such initiatives and to motivate future young entrepreneurs. Based on the results, as a social implication, the broader social interests are clearly visible. The experience is worth for attention of every potentially involved actor in forming the future of the youth.

Empowering Women Under Social Constraints: Evidence from a Field Intervention in Rural Egypt

Women in the MENA region are economically and socially disempowered. High youth unemployment rates together with discriminatory social norms drive them to limit their investment in human capital. We evaluate a large-scale intervention attempting to relax human capital constraints for women by offering vocational, business and life skills training in 30 villages in rural Egypt. Relative to women in the control villages, the intervention increased the likelihood of treated women engaging in income-generating activities, driven by an increase in self-employment. Treated women also became more likely to have future business aspirations. However, their intra-household decision-making and gender equality attitudes were not affected by the intervention. We show that these results mask heterogeneous effects in terms of background characteristics and initial levels of social empowerment. We find no evidence of positive spillover effects for the program within treated villages and, more importantly, no evidence of different pre-trends in employment between the treated and control groups prior to the intervention.

Empowering Public Employment Service Practitioners’ peer facilitation with peer coaching training

In a changing world of work with high youth unemployment rates, an ageing society and flexible work force, practitioners in Public Employment Services need to cope with continually growing demands. In this paper we present the EmployID project which introduced a blended learning approach for Public Employment Services in Croatia, designed to support professional identity transformation through peer facilitation and learning. The evaluation shows that learners benefited from higher knowledge and skills development related to peer coaching, along with an increase in activities related to collaborative, reflective learning.

Diminishing Prospects for Young People: A Comparison of the Intergenerational Fairness Index and Generational Divide Index in Addressing the Problem

This paper focuses on the origins of the generational divide, namely, the unsustainability of national policies that have disproportionately benefitted the older generations to the detriment of younger generations. Much of southern Europe remains mired by unacceptably high rates of youth unemployment, which leaves an indelible scar on young people, poses economic problems for future generations, and threatens the European economies competitiveness. This paper outlines and compares the objectives, methodologies and results of two cutting-edge approaches in identifying the extent of these generational imbalances, namely: the Intergenerational Foundation’s Intergeneration Fairness Index (IFI) and the Bruno Visentini Foundation’s Generational Divide Index (GDI). The findings outline the differing objectives and methodologies of these respective approaches. Although both instruments arrive at broadly similar conclusions, (i.e. young people’s diminishing prospects over time) there are palpable differences in the results. This is attributable to IFI and GDI’s different aims and objectives: IFI is mainly helpful for country comparisons and GDI for fixing country-specific targets.