Youth Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa has just experienced one of the best decades of growth since the 1960s. Between 2000 and 2012, gross domestic product (GDP) grew more than 4.5 percent a year on average, compared to around 2 percent in the prior 20 years (World Bank various years). In 2012, the region's GDP g...

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Main Authors:	Filmer, Deon, Fox, Louise
Other Authors:	Brooks, Karen
Format:	Publication
Language:	en_US
Published:	Washington, DC: World Bank and Agence Française de Développement 2014
Subjects:	child labor child welfare employment policy exploitation family farms household enterprises inequality job creation job seekers labor costs labor force labor markets living standards migration rural finance skills development training costs vocational training youth employment youth unemployment
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/16608

id	okr-10986-16608
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-166082021-04-23T14:03:31Z Youth Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa Filmer, Deon Fox, Louise Brooks, Karen Goyal, Aparajita Mengistae, Taye Premand, Patrick Ringold, Dena Sharma, Siddharth Zorya, Sergiy child labor child welfare employment policy exploitation family farms household enterprises inequality job creation job seekers labor costs labor force labor markets living standards migration rural finance skills development training costs vocational training youth employment youth unemployment Sub-Saharan Africa has just experienced one of the best decades of growth since the 1960s. Between 2000 and 2012, gross domestic product (GDP) grew more than 4.5 percent a year on average, compared to around 2 percent in the prior 20 years (World Bank various years). In 2012, the region's GDP growth was estimated at 4.7 percent- 5.8 percent if South Africa is excluded (World Bank 2013). About one-quarter of countries in the region grew at 7 percent or better, and several African countries are among the fastest growing in the world. Medium-term growth prospects remain strong and should be supported by a rebounding global economy. The challenge of youth employment in Africa may appear daunting, yet Africa's vibrant youth represent an enormous opportunity, particularly now, when populations in much of the world are aging rapidly. Youth not only need jobs, but also create them. Africa's growing labor force can be an asset in the global marketplace. Realizing this brighter vision for Africa's future, however, will require a clearer understanding of how to benefit from this asset. Meeting the youth employment challenge in all its dimensions, demographic, economic, and social, and understanding the forces that created the challenge, can open potential pathways toward a better life for young people and better prospects for the countries where they live. The report examines obstacles faced by households and firms in meeting the youth employment challenge. It focuses primarily on productivity, in agriculture, in nonfarm household enterprises (HEs), and in the modern wage sector, because productivity is the key to higher earnings as well as to more stable, less vulnerable, livelihoods. To respond to the policy makers' dilemma, the report identifies specific areas where government intervention can reduce those obstacles to productivity for households and firms, leading to brighter employment prospects for youth, their parents, and their own children. 2014-01-27T16:02:53Z 2014-01-27T16:02:53Z 2014-01-27 978-1-4648-0107-5 10.1596/978-1-4648-0107-5 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/16608 en_US Africa Development Forum; CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank Washington, DC: World Bank and Agence Française de Développement Publications & Research :: Publication Publications & Research Africa Africa
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	en_US
topic	child labor child welfare employment policy exploitation family farms household enterprises inequality job creation job seekers labor costs labor force labor markets living standards migration rural finance skills development training costs vocational training youth employment youth unemployment
spellingShingle	child labor child welfare employment policy exploitation family farms household enterprises inequality job creation job seekers labor costs labor force labor markets living standards migration rural finance skills development training costs vocational training youth employment youth unemployment Filmer, Deon Fox, Louise Youth Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa
geographic_facet	Africa Africa
relation	Africa Development Forum;
description	Sub-Saharan Africa has just experienced one of the best decades of growth since the 1960s. Between 2000 and 2012, gross domestic product (GDP) grew more than 4.5 percent a year on average, compared to around 2 percent in the prior 20 years (World Bank various years). In 2012, the region's GDP growth was estimated at 4.7 percent- 5.8 percent if South Africa is excluded (World Bank 2013). About one-quarter of countries in the region grew at 7 percent or better, and several African countries are among the fastest growing in the world. Medium-term growth prospects remain strong and should be supported by a rebounding global economy. The challenge of youth employment in Africa may appear daunting, yet Africa's vibrant youth represent an enormous opportunity, particularly now, when populations in much of the world are aging rapidly. Youth not only need jobs, but also create them. Africa's growing labor force can be an asset in the global marketplace. Realizing this brighter vision for Africa's future, however, will require a clearer understanding of how to benefit from this asset. Meeting the youth employment challenge in all its dimensions, demographic, economic, and social, and understanding the forces that created the challenge, can open potential pathways toward a better life for young people and better prospects for the countries where they live. The report examines obstacles faced by households and firms in meeting the youth employment challenge. It focuses primarily on productivity, in agriculture, in nonfarm household enterprises (HEs), and in the modern wage sector, because productivity is the key to higher earnings as well as to more stable, less vulnerable, livelihoods. To respond to the policy makers' dilemma, the report identifies specific areas where government intervention can reduce those obstacles to productivity for households and firms, leading to brighter employment prospects for youth, their parents, and their own children.
author2	Brooks, Karen
author_facet	Brooks, Karen Filmer, Deon Fox, Louise
format	Publications & Research :: Publication
author	Filmer, Deon Fox, Louise
author_sort	Filmer, Deon
title	Youth Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa
title_short	Youth Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa
title_full	Youth Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa
title_fullStr	Youth Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa
title_full_unstemmed	Youth Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa
title_sort	youth employment in sub-saharan africa
publisher	Washington, DC: World Bank and Agence Française de Développement
publishDate	2014
url	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/16608
_version_	1764434275063562240

Youth Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa

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