Work and Income for Young Men and Women in Africa: The Case of Uganda

This study sets out to undertake an in-depth country study to establish the economic sectors with the highest multipliers and potential to create employment opportunities for the youth in Uganda. The study used Uganda National Household Survey (UNHS 2019/20) and the Social Accounting Matrix (SAM 2016/17) for Uganda. The study employs descriptive analysis and multiplier approach together with regression analysis by estimating a two-stage Heckman probit model. First, the study examines the employment potential and linkages across the different sectors with decent jobs for the youth using the multiplier analysis. Secondly, the study analyses youth employment using full time equivalent in sectors taking into account gender issues by estimating probit and Tobit-Heckman two-stage regression models. This study finds that more female youth are employed in non-farm self-employment activities, while male youth are mainly employed in non-farm wage activities. In addition, the study finds that farm agricultural work employs most of the youth than other sectors. Furthermore, the results show that off-farm self-work is a significant source of youth employment in all regions. The regression findings show that youth employment is strongly related to their education attainment, skill attainment, and residence of the youth. This highlights the need for policy makers to be cognizant of the rural-urban gradient, skilling and reskilling of the youth in sector-specific skills for potential decent job creation. Also, there is need for the promotion of value addition and supporting agro-processing and import substitution, specifically firms that use local inputs, so as to create employment opportunities for the youth.