Labour Markets

1
Labour Markets Youth Employment in the Arab
States

• Prepared by Tariq A. Haq
• Employment Development and Strategies Officer
• Presented by Simel Esim
• Gender and Women Workers Specialist
• ILO Regional Office for Arab States, Beirut

UNDP/UNDESA Sub-Regional Workshop Youth Policies
Strategies in the context of the MDGs Sanaa,
Yemen, 22-23 June, 2005
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Outline

• Youth employment trends and indicators
• Global
• Regional
• Policy responses to youth employment challenge

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Youth-specific difficulties in transition from
education to employment

• Lack of employment experience of youth
• Insider-outsider effects related to labour
  market
• Wage and job expectations of graduates mismatch
  between aspirations labour market realities
• Quality relevance of education to labour market
• Constraints on self-employment entrepreneurship
  development
• Lack of organization and voice among young women
  and men (where are young members of workers and
  employers associations?)

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Youth statistics-- cross-country differences I

• Activity rates of
• youth (15 24) declined from 70.1 in 1950 to
  59.2 in 2000
• adults (25-64) increased from 72.5 to 78.5
• Mainly a result of growing participation of youth
  in education, so young people are expected to be
  better educated and potentially more productive
  than workers in other age groups
• Activity rates of young men much higher than
  those of young females but converging (in 1950
  the gender gap was 29.2 percent points, in 2000
  14.9 percent points)

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Youth statistics cross-country differences II

• Activity rates of young people differ by region
  the lowest in Europe, followed by Latin America
  and Northern America, the highest in Asia, Africa
  and Oceania
• Unemployment rates of youth consistently higher
  than the adult unemployment rates, in most
  countries between 2 and 4 times
• In most countries in the world, young women have
  higher unemployment rates than young men

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Country Year Youth UR in Youth UR to adult UR Ratio of youth U in total U
Austria 2001 5.5 1.7 20.1
Bangladesh 2000 10.7 11.9 79.4
Brazil 2001 17.9 3.7 48.6
Chile 2001 18.8 3.0 31.7
Czech Republic 2002 16.0 2.6 24.9
France 2002 20.2 2.6 19.8
Germany 2002 9.7 1.1 13.0
United States 2002 12.0 2.6 32.0
Algeria 1992 n.a. n.a. 65.7
Bahrain 2000 n.a. n.a. 60.7
Egypt 1999 20.4 4.9 59.5
Morocco 1999 15.4 1.6 38.2
UAE 2000 n.a. n.a. 47.0
West Bank and Gaza 2001 n.a. n.a. 35.1
Yemen 1999 n.a. n.a. 48.4
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Arab Regional Economic Context

• Variable, but generally sluggish economic growth
• Labour force growth is higher than both GDP
  growth jobs created
• Unemployment is acute amongst youth, especially
  young women
• Creeping poverty across the region even beyond
  the countries affected by conflict
• Nationalization of workforces in the Gulf with
  implications for young migrant workers in region

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High Unemployment for youth

• Around 12.5 million unemployed, coupled with high
  underemployment
• Highest (and increasing) unemployment rates in
  the world, especially for youth
• 2.5 million new youth entrants to the labour
  market annually, expected to rise to 3 million
  during 2000- 2010 need to create jobs for these
  new entrants just to maintain current
  unemployment levels
• Youth unemployment rates are much higher than
  adult unemployment rates, averaging 25.6 in
  2003 (cf. 21.0 in Sub-Saharan Africa)

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Gender Gap in Employment

• Average female unemployment rate of 16.5 was
  5.9 points higher than the male rate of 10.6
  in 2003
• Unemployment for young women in MENA countries
  ranges from 13 in Bahrain to almost 39 in
  Algeria
• Unemployed women are mainly
• young new labour force entrants (with primary
  secondary education)
• laid off workers following restructuring and
  privatization - in Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia and
  Egypt

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Yemen

• High population growth fertility rates
• Of the 18.5 million, 42 live in poverty
• Estimated growth of civilian non-institutional
  labour force is
• 3.8 total
• 3.3 male
• 5.3 female
• Youth unemployment is double that of adults
• 18.7 as compared to 8.4 in 1999
• estimated between 27.7 and 32.6 in 2005

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A comprehensive employment policy that is
inclusive of youth

• Such policy must be based on reliable economic
  and labour market analysis identifying potentials
  and challenges for young people (requires LMIS)
• Appropriate measures, on both the supply and
  demand side of the labour market, need to be
  applied monitored
• Policy and programs need to be better tailored
  toward
• enhancing employability
• promoting employment
• improving social security of young people
• Employment policy and programs need to be
  undertaken in partnership between governments,
  social partners, youth organizations and other
  NGOs (with support where appropriate from
  international organizations)

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Targeted Active Labour Market Policies for Young
Women Men

• Well functioning employment services
• Re-skilling of work force
• bridging the skills gap to match labour supply
  with demand
• linking training programs with employment
• Entrepreneurship training in basic business
  skills, especially for young women and men
• Employment subsidies for disadvantaged youth
  (school drop outs, vulnerable youth, youth with
  disabilities, etc.)

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Young Migrant Workers

• Admitting the reality of migration in receiving
  countries defining a clear and realistic
  strategy and policy for migration, shifting
  emphasis from quantity to quality of expatriates
• Initiating and developing a consultative process
  between sending and receiving countries, based on
  mutual respect and benefit
• More active role for workers organizations to
  defend migrant workers rights
• Public and media awareness on migrant workers
  rights

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Additional Policy Responses

• Promotion of intra-regional mobility
• Improving labour market information systems
• Policy integration (social, economic, poverty and
  employment policies)
• Cooperation with private employment agencies and
  training providers
• Incentives for employers to hire young people
  (subsidies annual recognition ceremonies)
• Promoting self-employment/entrepreneurship
  changing attitudes creating an enabling
  legislative/regulatory environment
• Engaging in meaningful dialogue with social
  partners

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Critical factors for youth employment policies to
work

• Sustainable economic growth through
  diversification
• Fair wages, rights and decent conditions for
  young people, particularly unskilled workers
• Improved quality of education and training
• Increased womens economic participation
• Improved work organization more proactive
  involvement of social partners in policy
  develpmnt
• Promoting access to youth friendly reproductive
  health policies, programs and services

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THANK YOU!

• FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS PRESENTATION
• CONTACT
• Tariq A. Haq
• Employment Development and Strategies Officer
• ILO Regional Office for Arab States, Beirut
• haq_at_ilo.org
• www.ilo.org
• www.ilo.org/youth
• www.ilo.org/yen