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Jobs for Africa’s expanding youth cohort: a stocktaking of employment prospects and policy interventions

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  • Gordon Betcherman

    (University of Ottawa)

  • Themrise Khan

Abstract

Youth unemployment and underemployment are serious concerns in sub-Saharan Africa, especially given the region’s young population. The barriers young people face stem both from skills deficiencies and from weak fundamentals that constrain job creation more generally in the region. Employment interventions can mitigate some of these barriers. However, our stocktaking of these interventions suggests that existing programs are disproportionately focused on the formal wage sector and do not adequately reflect the reality that most young people work in agriculture, household enterprises, and self-employment and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Finally, better data and evaluation are needed for more effective interventions.

Suggested Citation

  • Gordon Betcherman & Themrise Khan, 2018. "Jobs for Africa’s expanding youth cohort: a stocktaking of employment prospects and policy interventions," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 8(1), pages 1-20, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:izamig:v:8:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1186_s40176-018-0121-y
    DOI: 10.1186/s40176-018-0121-y
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Ambler, Kate & Herskowitz, Sylvan & Maredia, Mywish K., 2021. "Are we done yet? Response fatigue and rural livelihoods," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    2. Ulku,Hulya & Georgieva,Dorina Peteva, 2022. "Unemployment Benefits, Active Labor Market Policies, and Labor Market Outcomes : Evidence from New Global Data," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10027, The World Bank.
    3. Marco Carreras & James Sumberg & Amrita Saha, 2021. "Work and Rural Livelihoods: The Micro Dynamics of Africa’s ‘Youth Employment Crisis’," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 33(6), pages 1666-1694, December.
    4. James Sumberg & Justin Flynn & Philip Mader & Grace Mwaura & Marjoke Oosterom & Robert Sam‐Kpakra & Ayodele Ibrahim Shittu, 2020. "Formal‐sector employment and Africa's youth employment crisis: Irrelevance or policy priority?," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 38(4), pages 428-440, July.
    5. Wendy Geza & Mjabuliseni Ngidi & Temitope Ojo & Adetoso Adebiyi Adetoro & Rob Slotow & Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi, 2021. "Youth Participation in Agriculture: A Scoping Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-15, August.
    6. James Sumberg & Louise Fox & Justin Flynn & Philip Mader & Marjoke Oosterom, 2021. "Africa’s “youth employment” crisis is actually a “missing jobs” crisis," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 39(4), pages 621-643, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Youth employment; Sub-Saharan Africa; Skills; Employment policy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J08 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics Policies
    • J10 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - General
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J46 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Informal Labor Market

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