This post discusses the meaning of youths, unemployment, youth unemployment and analysis of youth unemployment, factors leading to it and solution.
YOUTH
Youth is best understood as a period of transition from the dependence of childhood to adulthood’s independence, this is the time of life when one is young especially the period between childhood and maturity, the early period of existence, growth, or development; a young person especially between adolescence and maturity.
UNEMPLOYMENT
The term unemployment refers to a situation where a person actively searches for employment but is unable to find work. Unemployment is considered to be a key measure of the health of the economy.
The most frequently used measure of unemployment is the unemployment rate. It’s calculated by dividing the number of unemployed people by the number of people in the labor force.
Unemployment is a key economic indicator because it signals the ability (or inability) of workers to obtain gainful work and contribute to the productive output of the economy. More unemployed workers mean less total economic production.
YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT
Youth unemployment is a state where a young person who is active is unable to find work. Unemployment occurs when workers who want to work are unable to find jobs.
The National Population Commission (NPOC, 2013) states Nigeria’s population is said to have reached about 167 million people in 2012 about half of the population is made up of youth, defined as individuals between 15 and 34 years of age. Unfortunately, as the youth population grows, so does the unemployment rate. In fact, unemployed youth numbered about 11.1 million in 2012.
In Nigeria, about 53.40% of youths are unemployed according to youth unemployment rates released by the National Bureau of Statistics in 2022.
ANALYSIS OF YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT IN NIGERIA
First, in terms of age, younger youth struggle even more to find jobs: At least two-thirds of unemployed youth are between 15 and 24 years of age. And, in terms of gender, majority of unemployed youth are female. Youth unemployment by geographical/settlement location (rural and urban areas) indicates that youth unemployment is mostly in rural areas and rapidly growing; From 2010 to 2011, the share of unemployed youth in rural areas increased from 47.59 percent to 59.95 percent. The population of unemployed youth in rural areas rose from 2.9 million in 2008 to about 5.9 million in 2012.rom 2010 to 2011, the share of unemployed youth in rural areas increased from 47.59 percent to 59.95 percent. The population of unemployed youth in rural areas rose from 2.9 million in 2008 to about 5.9 million in 2012. Relatedly, in terms of education, from 2008-2012, over half of unemployed youth did not have an education past primary school. This particular group has consistently accounted for over 50 percent of all unemployed youth. However, graduates of tertiary institutions also seem to be badly hit by unemployment too, making up about 20 percent of youth unemployment and often remaining unemployed for upward of five years after graduation.
FACTORS LEADING TO YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT IN NIGERIA
Several factors may be blamed for the prevalence of youth unemployment in Nigeria. There is a high population growth rate—3.5 percent per annum—which accompanies an already large national population of over 167 million people. In addition, deficient school curricula and poor teacher training have contributed to the failure of educational institutions to provide their students the appropriate skills to make them employable. Since schools in rural areas are generally more deficient in infrastructure, teaching facilities and teacher quality than schools in urban areas, this may help account for the high growth in rural unemployed youth. In fact, some experts suggest that the major jump in rural youth unemployment in 2011 (see Table 1) could be due to the mass failure in national examinations conducted among final-year secondary school students in 2010, which made many of them unemployable in 2011.
Read: Designing Your School ID Card using School Management System in Nigeria
In addition to these supply factors, there is a lack of vibrant industries to absorb competent graduates. This obstacle was in part caused by an infrastructural deficit and a debilitating structural adjustment program (SAP) implemented by Nigeria in the 1980s, which led to the closure of many industries and from which the country is yet to fully recover. It is also well-known that the youth unemployment situation has been aggravated by flawed and inconsistent public policies on employment.
Another reason might be that policymakers have had to confront inadequate information and data that can form the basis of effective planning, employment data are very hard to obtain, even from statutory institutions and agencies established for gathering socio-economic data. Where unemployment registers exist at all, they are limited to urban areas, and, in fact, not all those searching for employment attempt to register. In the absence of such data, policymakers tend to rely on cross-sectional household surveys, which are often inconsistent and full of errors. This lack of data makes it difficult for policymakers to understand the nature of the employment challenge and make informed decisions on how to support young people in the labor market. The scarcity of data on informal employment and entrepreneurship in particular is a major obstacle, given the importance of this sector for youth employment.
SOLUTION TO YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT IN NIGERIA
Entrepreneurship is an important solution to the problem of unemployment in Nigeria and around the world. By creating new businesses and job opportunities, entrepreneurship can help to reduce unemployment and drive economic growth and development. Government can start a program to train entrepreneurs instead of allowing unemployed graduates to search for jobs that are not there.
Agriculture is the second largest employer of labor in Nigeria. The agro allied value chain can become the hub for creating more jobs for Nigerians.
The government should prioritize implementing policies that encourage entrepreneurship. These are policies such as investing in education and training and improving infrastructure. These solutions will help to create jobs and reduce poverty. The government can disburse money to micro finance banks for lending to market women, petty traders, and artisans to stimulate economic growth. How it will work, is that the bank will ask these people to form corporative societies, to enable members to get small loans to expand their businesses. The corporative societies will act as a guarantor for members to ensure borrowers repay the loans. This plan can help many poor Nigerians become self-reliant and as their business grows; they will create jobs to reduce unemployment.
Education sets people free from poverty. Educated people, especially professionals are assets to the nation. The government should fund the education sector in other to avoid producing half -baked graduates with little chance of employment. They can change university curriculum to introduce subjects to train undergraduates for skills that are lacking, but essential for the labor market of today.
CONCLUSION
Youth unemployment in Nigeria has eaten deep into the agile and intelligent youths Of Nigeria. This situation has brought a state of hopelessness among many Nigerian youths. Unemployment is a ticking time bomb, which we must not be allowed to explode on our faces. Let us all join hands to provide jobs for unemployed people, mostly made up of youths. In addition, youths can set up an internet business by becoming a blogger, website designer, and copywriter, to reduce unemployment in Nigeria.
