Physically fit but financially stressed: youth unemployment and poverty in Ghana

The increasing youth population in Ghana and across the world has brought with it enormous challenges which are affecting young people in recent times. Although there are various definitional issues and debates concerning which group constitutes youth, the United Nations defined youths as those people between the age of 15 and 24 without prejudice to the definition of member states. Ghana as a member of the United Nations has also pegged its youth age between 15 and 35. The crust of this article centers on the conceptualization of youth by both Ghana and the UN with an attempt to highlight young people's experiences with regard to their participation in the labor market such as employment, unemployment, and poverty.

Categorizing youths based on their occupation during various periods of growth has made it possible to distinguish youths based on those in school, those who have left school, and those in early careers. These groups in the context of Ghana include those in junior high schools, senior high schools, those attending tertiary institutions, and those who have just finished tertiary education and are undertaking their national service- a mandatory service to the government after long years of going through the school system. The other categorization considers young people who are out of school and are participating in the job market.

The Africa youth survey 2022 of young people found that youth experiences in recent times pose a challenge to their productivity and contributions to development with many wanting to move abroad. The youth crisis is mostly seen in youth participation in education and the labor market.

Also in Ghana, recent 2020 data from the Institute of statistical, social, and economic research indicate that only 10% of graduates find a job out of the many graduates who graduate each year. The 2021 population and housing census 2021 also reveal that youth unemployment among (15-35 years) in Ghana is at 19.7%. Which is a 118.89% increase from 9.0% between 2017 and 2020.

These figures paint a scary picture of the youth crisis since youth unemployment has doubled from 9.0% on average between 2017 and 2020 to 19.7% in 2021 when one infers from the recent Ghana population and housing census data.

On the issues affecting youths in recent times in Ghana, one could only look around and find the following;

First among the views one would glare at is the difficulty youths face in their mobility on the economic ladder. There is increasingly urban and rural poverty among young people, and the obstacles they face in their quest to secure decent work and decent livelihoods. Youth aspirations of completing school and getting a job are becoming difficult as the days go by. These concerns of youth unemployment pose a serious problem because the youths are future leaders and their ability to live good lives in the future as adults require the obtaining of decent work in the present.

Similar to what is reported in other jurisdictions, Ghanaian youth are increasingly isolated and have a bleak picture of what the future holds. Although many live in the cities, many are unable to afford city life. They are unable to afford the dresses the city life offers, the food to survive on, the entertainment services that city life offers, choosing partners timely for which they can marry and sire children, and ultimately the living conditions in which they leave in.

Youths are not able to realize the offers that city living promises such as access to good quality education, better wages, and services in recent times due to the economic crisis that has been exacerbated by COVID 19. They are unable to find jobs on time after school and are largely underemployed for a better part of their participation in the labor market which presents a significant problem that needs to be paid attention to.

The increasing youth population in urban areas which is largely caused by the limited opportunities in rural areas has brought together challenges such as shrinking formal employment opportunities, urban poverty, and insecurity.

Many youths have therefore resorted to their own devices to secure their livelihood in the over-saturated labor market. Either they are actively pursuing their entrepreneurial endeavors, or they are engaging in other minor things to be occupied. Others also can’t help but look on in hope that things would get better one day which is evident in narratives such as “optimism in pain”.

Again, for many youths, it is difficult managing their current lives while navigating a move toward their future selves. This is partly because of their limited income, high cost of living, and the overspill of unemployment and underemployment.

Among the other challenge is the youth transitioning from school to work. Many youths are not able to transition safely and securely from school or the education system to work. This suggests that youths don’t enter work immediately after school and their pattern for establishing themselves through earning income, marriage, and family after school are disrupted or thwarted. They continue to depend on their family for sustenance which puts an enormous burden on parents who hoped for a child to transition to economic independence after school. This can be attributed to the over-saturated job market caused by an increased population with limited corresponding economic growth. Youths have therefore resorted to various survival strategies with various characterizations such as “hustling” “making some rounds” “street smartness” “lyy” and other similar terms that hail youth agencies in Ghana. It was however observed that not all of the youth agencies correlate to legal ways of survival but rather indicate a “do or die” affair where survival is the goal.

Additionally, negative stereotypes about youth also affect their participation in the labor market. It is common to hear various narratives in recent times about “the youth are lazy” “the youth are not entrepreneurial” and other self-serving quotes which are peddled by persons who are supposed to be helping young people find their feet. The negative stereotypes also affect youth functioning since many are disturbed by such comments in their quest for survival.

In conclusion, what can we do to address the situation facing youths?

Firstly, there needs to be a concerted effort from the government to ensure youth transition safely from school to work. Although the current national service scheme helps in that regard, the irregular allowance disbursement and the inflationary induced loss of value it suffers have made it difficult for youth to save and even engage in entrepreneurship.

Since youth unemployment is a threatening crisis impacting development in Ghana and Africa, particular attention must be paid to the root causes which are structural such as the political will to advance youth employment as well as paying critical attention to economic development. Sound economic management and industrialization come in handy in addressing the burgeoning crisis. It is also advised that all youths cannot be told to engage in entrepreneurship as though this is the panacea to the problems youth face.

The writer is Donatus Doe. @[email protected]