Youth In Ghana Research Articles

‘Who said We are Politically Inactive?’: A Reappraisal of the Youth and Political Party Activism in Ghana 2004–2012 (A Case of the Kumasi Metropolis)

There is a prevailing opinion that, in almost every election, young people are the least likely to vote and these participation rates are continuously declining; youth membership of political parties is dropping (partisanship), they are less politically knowledgeable, do not participate in social or political activities, have low levels of political interest, and other factors. This research, conducted in the Kumasi Metropolis, shows that the youth are associated with political parties and thus provide a strong indication that the youth in Ghana are very active in politics and thus their engagement comes with factors that serve as a driving force.

Perspectives on Markers of Adulthood Among Emerging Adults in Ghana and Nigeria

Within the rapidly growing literature on emerging adulthood worldwide, studies examining this concept in African countries are virtually nonexistent. In an effort to continue the inclusion of other countries and cultures in the discussion of this developmental concept, there is a need to conduct research on emerging adulthood in African countries. The purpose of this study was to examine the perspectives on the markers of adulthood among emerging adults at selected universities in Ghana and Nigeria. Results reveal that the markers of adulthood among youth in Ghana and Nigeria are eclectic, with strong ties to sociocultural factors. The findings of this study make several important contributions to the literature for our understanding of the concept of emerging adulthood and serve as anchor for further research in the field of emerging adulthood in West Africa.

The Impact of Financial Education for Youth in Ghana

Summary Governments and non-governmental organizations promote school-based financial literacy programs as means to instill financial behaviors that can persist through adulthood. We conduct a randomized trial of two financial literacy education programs in government-run Ghanaian primary and junior high schools. The first integrated both financial and social education, while the second included only financial education. Our study finds that after nine months, both programs had positive impacts on self-reported savings at school relative to the control group, but there were no statistically significant increases in aggregate savings nor in hypothesized mechanisms such as attitudes, preferences, or knowledge. The financial education-only treatment led to a weakly statistically significant increase in child labor relative to the control group, although the difference in impact between the two treatment groups was not statistically significant. The lack of short-term effects of these programs on financial behaviors and attitudes indicate that alternative program designs should be evaluated to understand whether and how these outcomes can be influenced among students in this age group.

‘Taking the Bank to the Youth’: Impacts on Savings from the Ghana YouthSave Experiment

AbstractThis paper explores experimental impacts of in‐school banking and marketing outreach on the savings performance of youth in Ghana. Findings suggest that youth in treatment schools performed better than those in control schools in terms of account opening, depositing and savings. Between the two treatment conditions, in‐school banking was more effective than marketing outreach in promoting savings. These findings demonstrate that a meaningful proportion of low‐income youth, in a resource‐limited country, can be connected to formal financial services and save if access and opportunities are available. The results support the offering of financial services at schools as a strategy to expand youth financial inclusion. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Navigating Precarious Employment: Social Networks Among Migrant Youth in Ghana

This article is concerned with the precarious employment situations of migrant youth and the supportive role of social networks. It draws on interviews conducted with 30 young migrants in Accra, Ghana. The empirical findings reveal that the precarious nature of young people’s employment manifests in the uncertain nature of work, exploitation by clients and employers, as well as low and irregular income. These lead to socioeconomic hardships such as not being able to meet basic needs. The article further demonstrates how social networks strengthen young migrants’ agency through the provision of financial resources that allow them to navigate hardships. However, exploitative practices are also inherent within these networks and this article exposes these, alongside thedemonstrable benefits. Provision of financial support for rural young people to further their education, enforcement of laws within the informal sector and support for migrants’ networks would help improve the situation.

Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Validation of the Commitment-to-School Scale Using a Sample of Junior High School Youth in Ghana

Empirical evidence from developed countries suggests that students' commitment to school is fundamental to their academic success. However, in developing countries, validated measures of student commitment to school do not exist. The current study helps fill this research gap by examining the validity and reliability of a commitment-to-school scale (CSS) adapted for the Ghanaian context. With a sample of 6,252 middle school–age students, the study employs exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses with weighted least squares means and variance adjusted (WLSMV) to establish and validate the construct as bidimensional. Measurement invariance tests confirm that the two-factor commitment model is generalizable across grade levels but not genders. Given its parsimony and good fit, the adapted CSS might be useful for future research in Ghana. Similarity of the model across grade levels suggests that the scale has potential uses in education research among diverse groups. We suggest that the CSS be developed further for better understanding of students' commitment to school.

Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Validation of the Commitment-to-School Scale Using a Sample of Junior High School Youth in Ghana

Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Validation of the Commitment-to-School Scale Using a Sample of Junior High School Youth in Ghana

We never plan to return home: voices of pre-migrant Ghanaian youth

This qualitative study aimed to explore return migration intentions among pre-migrant youth in Ghana. The study applied the neoclassical economics, new economics of labor migration, and structuralist theories. Thirty-four students (16 females and 18 males) were purposively recruited as participants for the study. Each student participated in one out of four digitally recorded focus group discussions. The data were analyzed to identify emerging themes that addressed objectives of the study. Participants were final year undergraduate and graduate university students and their ages ranged from 22 to 34 years. Analysis of the data revealed that participants had plans to migrate to the diaspora to seek income-generating and educational opportunities. Furthermore, evidence showed that the youth included in this study had no intentions of returning to their country of origin due to three major reasons (economic, family pressure, and stigma). For many pre-migrants, returning to their country of origin is not an option, especially if they are able achieve their goals in the diaspora. Given that return migration usually involves labor migrants who did not reap the benefits of higher earnings abroad and were therefore regarded as failed migrants, there is the need for government and other stakeholders to initiate policies that address the socioeconomic and psychological challenges faced by return migrants.

Developing Tools for Community-Based Environmental Education for Migrant Children and Youth in Ghana

This case study presents a detailed description of how community-based environmental education can be used to increase environment awareness and knowledge among migrant children and youth. Data was collected primarily from interviews and learning activities with 454 participants aged 11 to 19 years. The results show that children and youth are aware of environmental problems in their local communities. Environmental problems identified include open defecation, pollution, poor waste management and the use of unsustainable fishing methods. They are also capable of recommending solutions to some of these problems. Solutions recommended include planting more trees, providing waste bins in schools and public places, arresting and prosecuting people who practise open defecation, and public education on the need to stop practices that degrade the environment. The most popular tools recommended for educating children and youth on proper environmental practices and behaviour were dramas and plays. Children and youth thus prefer methods of teaching and communication that are audio-visual, encourage interaction and that keep participants actively involved in the process.

Facilitators and Obstacles in Youth Saving: Perspectives from Ghana and Kenya

Youth are a rapidly growing percentage of the Sub-Saharan African population, and many are economically vulnerable. Financial inclusion for youth, particularly the promotion of savings behavior, is associated with a number of positive social and economic outcomes and is an international priority. However, the majority of youth in Sub-Saharan Africa are not saving, and limited qualitative research exists to aid understanding of the possible explanations. This paper aims to increase the understanding of factors that facilitate and obstruct youth saving by exploring the savings behavior of youth participating in the YouthSave Project in Ghana and Kenya. We conducted in-depth interviews with four triads comprised of youth, a parent or caregiver, and a school stakeholder in each country to develop case studies for the YouthSave Project. Findings indicate that support from parents, school staff, and financial institutions is conducive to youth participation in saving, even though youth participants struggle with limited financial resources and conflicting demands for money. Understanding the reasons, both institutional and individual, that youth in Ghana, Kenya, and other Sub-Saharan countries are not saving is an important part of promoting financial inclusion and greater use of banking services. This study provides first-hand accounts that may be useful for financial institutions, policymakers, and others working to develop youth-friendly financial products and establish financial inclusion policies.

The Impact of Financial Education for Youth in Ghana

The Impact of Financial Education for Youth in Ghana

The Impact of Financial Education for Youth in Ghana

The Impact of Financial Education for Youth in Ghana

Risk for coerced sex among female youth in Ghana: roles of family context, school enrollment and relationship experience.

A better understanding is needed of the variables that may influence the risk of experiencing coerced sex among adolescent females in Sub-Saharan Africa. Data were collected from 700 female respondents who were interviewed in 2010 and 2012 waves of a longitudinal study of behavioral risk for HIV infection among youth aged 13-14 or 18-19 and living in two towns in southeastern Ghana. A series of logistic regression models examined the influences of household composition and wealth, four family process variables (behavioral control, relationship quality, financial support, conflict), school enrollment and relationship experience on females' risk of experiencing coerced sex. Eighteen percent of respondents reported having experienced coerced sex prior to Wave 1, and 13% experienced it between Waves 1 and 2. In both cross-sectional and prospective models, the variable with the strongest association with having experienced coerced sex was having ever had a boyfriend (fully adjusted odds ratios, 4.5 and 2.6, respectively). In cross-sectional analyses, parental behavioral control was negatively associated with risk for coerced sex, while parental conflict was positively associated; these associations were not significant in the prospective analyses. Having a boyfriend appears to be the primary predictor of coerced sex among young females, beyond any influence of family, school or other household variables. More research is needed to understand the context of females' relationships with boyfriends in an effort to reduce the risk of sexual coercion and to promote the prevention of sexual violence perpetrated by males within these relationships.

Measuring resilience among homeless youth: psychometric assessment of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale in Ghana

This study validated the psychometric structure of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC; Connor & Davidson, 2003) in a sample of 227 homeless youth in Ghana. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) with Varimax rotation was used to extract factor structures. About 62% of the total variance was accounted for by a three-factor structure: personal competence and tenacity, optimism and achievement motivation. Evidence of the external validity of scales was supported by the positive correlation between resilience and perceived social support scores. The CD-RISC appears to yield scores reliable for assessing resilience among homeless youth in a developing world context.

Testing a Measurement Model of Financial Capability Among Youth in Ghana

Youth may benefit from having enhanced financial knowledge and skills and access to financial services to help them navigate transitions to adulthood, though reliable and valid measures of youth financial capability to help assess financial education and inclusion intervention outcomes are lacking. Using survey responses from 5,451 youth ages 12–18 in Ghana, we used exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis to assess 18 survey items concerning youth financial behavior and understanding and attitudes concerning financial services. A 12‐item, group invariant scale (α = .72) with three latent factors was retained in a well‐fitting model that may help practitioners assess financial education and inclusion outcomes. We found that six items were poor indicators of youth financial capability, possibly because these items measure other constructs like numeracy, or because these items were not sufficiently assessed for developmental and cultural validity using qualitative methods like cognitive interviewing.

Results from Ghana's 2014 Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth.

Limited evidence exists on indicators of physical activity (PA) and guidelines for children and youth in Ghana, despite the growing burden of physical inactivity, obesity, and related morbidity. A baseline description of PA indicators of Ghanaian children and youth is hereby presented in the 2014 Ghanaian Physical Activity Report Card. Data for the report card were obtained from a very limited available literature on PA among children and youth in Ghana. PA experts independently assigned grades to indicators based on available evidence, which were then harmonized and agreed to by group consensus. The report card is based on limited evidence. Thus, 2 indicators were not graded (Active Play, and Family and Peer Support). For sedentary behavior, a B grade was assigned based on evidence from the 2012 Ghana School Health Survey which indicated that 21% of children and youth were sedentary. Organized Sports was graded a C, while the remainder of indicators (Overall PA levels, Active Transportation, School, Community, and Government) were graded a D. About one-third of Ghanaian children and youth engage in inadequate PA. More research on PA behavior and enabling environments is needed to better grade the indicators of PA in the future and to inform policy and interventions in Ghana. Appropriate school physical education and after-school sports policies and programs are warranted.

Youth in Parliament and Youth Representation in Ghana

Civil Society and many youth activists were elated when the youth, those aged between 21 and 40 years, were given prominence in Ghana’s parliament after the 2012 elections. Indeed, as many as 44 young people were elected during Ghana’s 2012 Parliamentary Elections. Prior to this, the number of young people in Ghana’s parliament was negligible. In view of the demographic advantage of the youth and their invaluable contributions to Ghana’s political history, there have been incessant calls for their representation and an eventual return to the days of the 1950s when politics was dominated by the youth. The outcome of the 2012 Parliamentary Elections was therefore hailed as unprecedented and described by many as a giant step towards youth representation in national decision making. However, a survey of all the young parliamentarians and some 4400 young people carefully selected through purposive sampling provides the basis for this paper’s thesis that the growth in the number of young people in Ghana’s parliament does not necessarily guarantee youth representation in national decision making; rather, it promotes tokenism, exclusivity and co-optation of the youth into decision-making structures of state. The study makes practical recommendations to create a relationship between youth in Ghana’s parliament and youth representation.

Ghanaian youth and festive transvestism

‘Festive transvestism’ is an increasingly visible cross-dressing practice performed by young people in the Southern parts of contemporary Ghana. Based on participant observation in four cross-dressing events, 15 individual interviews and a focus-group discussion, festive cross-dressing is understood as a contemporary ritual that mainly serves the purpose of reinforcing and reproducing gender binaries as well as heteronormativity in Ghanaian society. Nevertheless cross-dressing events also provide a subjective, creative and exploratory space – although temporary and circumscribed – for the transvestites as well as for the spectators to deconstruct sex, gender and sexuality through the performativity of transvestism. The opening of this exploratory space is made possible by the liminality of the social category of youth in Ghana, which grants young people, especially young men, more liberty and (gender) flexibility. Finally, the paper challenges the widely spread Western perception that feminine men and cross-dressers are necessarily homosexual by resituating the concept of homosexuality within the context of Ghanaian society, where it has recently started to occupy the public space.

Substance use and risky sexual behaviours among sexually experienced Ghanaian youth

BackgroundThe association between risky sexual behaviours and substance uses among Ghanaian youth were investigated.MethodsAn in-school cross-sectional representative survey was conducted among 12-18-year- old youth in Ghana in 2008 (N = 1195, response rate =90%). Logistic regression analyses were employed to investigate the association between substance use (tobacco use, drunkenness, marijuana use and other drug uses) and risky sexual behaviours (sexual debut, condom use and number of sexual partners).ResultsOf all youth, 25% (28% boys and 23% girls) were sexually experienced. The mean age for first sexual intercourse was 14.8 years (14.4 years for boys and 15.1 years for girls). Among the sexually experienced, 31% had multiple sexual partners. Older age (OR = 3.4, 95% CI = 1.7-3.4) and rural residency (OR = 1.5, 95% CI = 1.1-2.1) were independently associated with sexual debut while only older age (OR = 2.4, 95% CI = 1.7-3.4) was associated with condom use. Additionally, smoking (OR = 3.7, 95% CI = 2.0-6.8), tawa use (OR = 2.4, 95% CI = 1.3-4.7), tobacco use (OR = 2.8, 95% CI = 1.7-4.7) drunkenness (OR = 1.7, 95% CI = 1.1-2.8) and marijuana use (OR = 3.3, 95% CI = 1.6-7.0) were independently associated with sexual debut. Furthermore, all substance uses studied were associated with having one or multiple sexual partners.ConclusionSubstance use seems to be a gateway for risky sexual behaviours among Ghanaian youth. Public health interventions should take into account the likelihood of substance use among sexually experienced youth.

Financial management practices of small firms in Ghana: An empirical study

The contribution of small firms to the employment of the youth in Ghana is highly recognised, but their contribution towards revenue to the national budget seems to be negligible. The reason for this situation is that these small firms do not have sound financial management systems in place which will help them to prepare financial reports. The end result is that it becomes very difficult for tax authorities to compute their taxable incomes. The three most influential factors that did motivate the sample firms in pursuing sound financial management practices were: (1) Pressure from bankers (90%); (2) Pressure from external accountants (80%) (3); Pressure from providers of capital (70%). The three most influential factors that prevent them from practicing sound financial management practices were: (1) Qualified accountants too expensive to maintain (93%); (2) Accounting records too difficult to understand (87%); (3) Lack of internal accounting staff (73%). In the light of the findings of the study, it has been recommended among other things that, they should avoid mixing business transactions with non-business transactions. It was also recommended that small firms should disclose fully the financial position by keeping full set of information on business transactions. Key words: Financial management practices, small firms, Ghana.