Name: Lineo Pheane

Student Number: 201803163

Course Code: HG466

Chapter 2: Literature Review on Youth Unemployment rates globally

Young people are usually defined as persons aged fifteen to twenty-four. However, countries
differ according to their own operational definitions. The resolutions concerning statistics of
work, employment and labour under utilization, adopted by 19 th International Conference of
labour Statisticians (ICLS), outlines the international standards of youth unemployment. Many
economists term the Global Financial Crisis as the worst financial crisis of 1930, which marked
the Great Depression. Global financial crisis caused levels of unemployment to rise and has since
not returned the level it was before the crisis. Youth unemployment rates increased drastically
caused by a drop in the aggregate demand and falling of wages. France and Germany experience
high youth unemployment rates, however their labour markets response to financial crisis was
different with the latter being quite resilient (Clavin,2000, pp21-22).

Unemployment rate expressed as a percentage is total number of unemployed people divided by

the entire labor force in a region or sate. The youth in the world are approximately three times
more likely to be jobless than older people. This has been illustrated by the fact that, the youth
population is increasing in the developing countries but economic growth is slow. Youth
employment is important for social inclusion. The fact that the numbers of unemployed youth are
dramatically increasing is becoming a really fast growing problem. This threatens the economic
development of a country therefore; the government should take this seriously. It is a global issue
which must be addressed since its effects can spill over. Failure by the government to train and
educate young and offer them well paying jobs, risks increasing unemployment rate and
disappointing the aspirations of young people.

Unemployment is not entirely a recent phenomenon. It existed during the pre classical era, but its
implication took precedence only after the post World War era. From his book “Unemployment
and the Economists” Bernard Corry stated that it was Keynes who first gave importance to this
so called “mercantilist literature”, later elucidated by other economists. The unemployment
problem was not a priority during the classical period. Rather, poverty was given more
importance. However, by the late 19th century, the issue of poverty and unemployment both
became priorities. The unemployment issue became very dominant by mid 20th century,
especially during and after World War II, owing to the situation during and after the war, which
demonstrated that a fully employed economy would enhance the profits in the National Income.
(Corry, 1996, pp70).

The neoclassical theory and the General Theory/Keynesian Theory are two theories, which
explain the theoretical basis of unemployment. The neoclassical theory analyzes the standard
demand and supply to the labour market and treats unemployment as a ‘disequilibrium
occurrence‘ that arises from the prevalence of wages at a level higher than that which clears the
labor market. “Minimum wage legislation, union bargaining, and efficiency wages (where higher
wages produce better workers or draw better workers from the employment pool) are some of the
reasons that labor markets may not adjust to full employment.
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On the other hand Keynes’s theory states that unemployment results from the equilibrium of
aggregate demand and supply at a level too low to require the productive services of the entire
labor force. The remedy is to raise aggregate demand by a combination of fiscal and monetary
measures, such as lower taxes, increased government spending, or accelerated monetary growth.
Protective measures in the realm of international trade, such as tariffs and subsidies, can also
help alleviate the problem by switching demand from foreign to domestic goods and services
(Corry, 1996, pp70).

As the global youth unemployment rate is estimated at 13.1%, according to ILO's Global
employment trends for youth 2015 and world employment and Social outlook for youth (2016).
This means that in 2016, seventy one million around the world were jobless. In addition, one
hundred and fifty-six million (one in three) young workers in the developing world countries
earn less than US$3.1 per day. In total, almost 40.8 percent of the global youth labour force is
still either unemployed or working yet living in poverty. The deterioration in the youth
employment situation is particularly marked in emerging countries where the unemployment rate
is predicted to rise from 13.3 per cent in 2015 to 13.7 per cent in 2017 (a figure which
corresponds to 53.5 million unemployed in 2017, compared to 52.9 million in 2015).

Unemployment status is only one marker of the difficult transition to work faced by young
people around the world, but it is the most commonly cited and perhaps the most telling of the
indicators used in analyses of labor market outcomes. The global rate of youth unemployment
was estimated at 13 per cent in 2017 and was expected to remain steady during 2018 (ILO,
2018b, pp22). In real terms, this means that nearly 67 million young people between the ages of
15 and 24 reports that they are actively searching for work but are unable to find a job. The youth
unemployment rate stood at 11.5 per cent in 2007—a low point for the decade—just before the
global financial crisis the following year; between 2008 and 2010, the rate rose from 12.2 to 13
per cent.

A deep concern is that world unemployment rates did not decline after the global downturn; as
economies began to recover, the rate of unemployment among young people remained at or near
13 per cent. This has been driven in part by the failure of economies around the world to return
to high rates of economic growth and by the failure of Governments to establish coordinated
policy efforts and active labor market programmes designed to help ease the transition to work
both for those youth whose transitions were delayed by the economic downturn and for more
recent graduates. While the global youth unemployment rate has remained relatively steady over
the past decade, there have been significant regional variations in both prevalence and trends.

The sharpest increase has occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean, where the aggregate rate
of youth unemployment raised from 13.6 per cent in 2014 to 14.8 per cent in 2015 and was
projected to reach 18.9 per cent in 2017. This has largely been driven by outcomes for young
people in Argentina and Brazil, where youth unemployment rates for 2017 stood at 24.7 and 30.5
per cent respectively. The impact of high youth unemployment in Argentina and Brazil has been
offset in the regional aggregate by increasingly positive outcomes in Mexico, where youth
unemployment declined from 10 per cent in 2009 to 6.9 per cent in 2017. In the Russian
Federation economic growth has been volatile over the past decade. The growth rate fell from
4.3 per cent in 2011 to -0.2 per cent in 2016, and youth unemployment declined from 18.7 per
cent in 2009 to 14.1 per cent in 2014 but rose to 16.3 per cent in 2017 (ILO, 2018b, pp22).

Youth unemployment trends in the Russian Federation have generally been aligned with those in
nearby regions; in Central Asia, youth unemployment stood at 14.8 per cent in 2012 and was
expected to increase to 16.5 per cent in 2017, while Eastern Europe projected a slight decline
(from 17.6 per cent in 2015 to 16.1 per cent in 2017). Data indicate that Ukraine has the highest
youth unemployment rate in Eastern Europe (23.3 per cent), while Georgia has the highest rate in
Central Asia (29.3 per cent). At an aggregate level, Eastern Asia, South-Eastern Asia and
Southern Asia are among the regions with the lowest rates of youth unemployment, estimated at
10.5, 11.1 and 10.8 per cent respectively for 2017 (ILO, 2018b, pp22).

The low rates for Eastern Asia and Southern Asia are driven by unemployment estimates for
their largest economies, China and India. In China, where youth unemployment was estimated at
a low 8.4 per cent in 2009, the proportion of young jobseekers without work is expected to rise
gradually as competition for higher-skilled jobs among youth increases. Youth unemployment in
China is currently estimated at 10.8 per cent. In India, the unemployment rate for youth remains
at about 10 per cent, but there are concerns that this will increase if India’s high economic
growth rate of 7 per cent per year fails to boost employment at the rates needed to generate
sufficient work for the country’s growing youth population.

Meanwhile, the youth unemployment rate in developing countries is expected to remain

relatively stable, at around 9.5 per cent in 2016, but in terms of absolute numbers it should
increase by around 0.2 million in 2016 to reach 7.9 million unemployed youth in 2017, largely
due to an expanding labour force. Finally, in developed countries, the unemployment rate among
youth was anticipated to be the highest globally in 2016 (14.5 per cent or 9.8 million) and
although the rate is expected to decline in 2017, the pace of improvement will slow (falling only
to 14.3 per cent in 2017). The cost of youth unemployment to economic and social development
can be very high. It perpetuates the inter-generational cycle of poverty and is sometimes
associated with higher levels of crime, violence, civil unrest, substance abuse and the rise of
political extremism (ILO, 2018b, pp22).
In the United Kingdom, youth aged between 18 and 25 are unemployed. This includes university
graduates with academic Degrees, but for some reasons they cannot get a job. It is estimated that
in 2010, 925000 youth were unemployed and the figure rose to 1.02 million young people under
25 years in 2011 Morsey (2012, pp49). In the European Union, youth unemployment rates vary
with Germany having the least unemployment rates, which stands at about 8%. In Spain the rate
of youth unemployment is alarming in recent years and the number increased largely between
2007 and 2008 during the financial crisis. In 2014, youth between the age of 15 and 24
unemployment was at 57.9% Natanya (2017, pp56-68). Such high rates are caused by failure to
implement policies on employment which are effective and labour market segmentation.

Greece on the other hand, is a state experiencing one of the highest youth unemployment rates in
the globe, with youth graduate unemployment being the severe problem faced by the country. In
1998 educated young people lacked jobs owing to low demand for the educated personnel then.
According to George et al (2003, pp413-426), in 2009 youth unemployment level in Greece was
at 24.2% and Kaplanoglu (2013, pp5-27) states that the percentage rose to 40.1% in 2011 and
55% in 2012 respectively. Trade unions should attract workers who are young and promote
increase in wages (Ifanti et al. 2013, pp8-12). Italy has also experienced youth unemployment
rise levels particularly between 2008 and 2014.

In 2017 the rate of youth unemployment was highest in Northern Africa (29.5 per cent) and the
Arab States26 (24.9 per cent). While high in comparison with other regions, the youth
unemployment rate for the Middle East as a whole has not changed significantly over the past
couple of decades; for much of the 2000s it stayed above 25 per cent, even during a high growth
period in the mid-2000s. Even in the Arab Gulf States, which depend heavily on foreign workers,
unemployment rates among local youth remain relatively high. Across Northern Africa and the
Arab States, such outcomes are driven in part by the growth of the youth population but also by
structural barriers to the economic inclusion of young people (Morsey, 2013, pp49).

Youth unemployment in sub-Saharan Africa remains fairly low at 11.7 per cent. However, this
positive outcome (explored below in greater detail) masks other concerning labor market trends
linked to informal sector employment and working poverty. It should be noted that some
countries in sub-Saharan Africa are experiencing extraordinarily high rates of youth
unemployment. In South Africa, for example, nearly 57.4 per cent of economically active youth
are unemployed. Youth unemployment rates for Lesotho, Mozambique and Namibia are
estimated at 38.5, 42.7 and 45.5 per cent respectively.

The rate of youth unemployment in more developed economies is estimated at 12.6 per cent,
having declined from 17.2 per cent in 2013. In Western Europe there are notable variations in
youth employment outcomes. While unemployment rates among young people are as low as 6.4
per cent in Germany and 6.2 per cent in Iceland, they are as high as 39.4 per cent in Spain, 36.9
per cent in Italy, and 42.8 per cent in Greece. In the less developed Balkan States, youth
unemployment rates are as high as 55.4 per cent in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 46.9 per cent in the
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and 32.8 per cent in Serbia. In both country
groupings, poor labor market outcomes for youth are related more to weak growth and structural
problems with the labor market than to demographics (Harmon, 1995, pp1278-1286) .

The global ratio of youth unemployment to adult unemployment is 2.09. While striking, this
difference makes sense when one considers that young people are generally new entrants to the
labor market with little or no job experience and are competing for entry-level positions. They
are also exploring and experimenting with different types of work and are thus more prone to
leave jobs that do not meet their goals and expectations or to move frequently to secure better
positions. Moreover, for those able to depend on their families for housing and living costs,
remaining unemployed may be a viable option as it gives them the freedom to pursue better
opportunities. While short bouts of frictional unemployment may be expected for young new
entrants, it is the duration of unemployment that is of greatest concern.

Young people who spend many months or even years searching for work but are unable to secure
employment often find themselves at a distinct disadvantage in the labor market. Not only are
they failing to procure a job that puts them on the pathway to decent work and career
development, but they are experiencing an erosion of the skills they developed in school. Long
periods of unemployment may also be seen in a negative light by prospective employers, many
of whom base their appraisal of applicants on education, observable traits and work history.
Moreover, studies have shown that youth with long periods of initial unemployment continue to
experience “wage scarring” throughout their careers, as they are never able to catch up to their
peers in terms of expected salaries for their skills and experience (Bloom, 2011, pp6-12).
Young people in developing economies face an employment situation that is very different from
that of youth in developed economies. In most developing economies opportunities for youth are
concentrated in the informal sector, where poor job security, low wages, and limited chances for
on-the-job learning restrict the ability of young people to leverage such jobs to secure better,
more formal work. Those youth most affected by poverty and marginalization face challenges
relating to the cost of education and the possibility of having to leave school to help cover their
families’ rising cost of living; these factors effectively prevent many youth from completing
secondary education or in some cases even primary education. For young people who lack a
strong educational foundation, initial experiences in the labor market can reinforce the cycle of
poverty and undermine the intergenerational promise of improving economic outcomes. For a
large number of youth, working poverty continues to weaken their ability to prepare themselves
for better employment and to escape chronic financial hardship and its attendant challenges

There are varying ideas about the effects and causes of unemployment in the world. It is a well
known fact that one of the burning issues of modern time is unemployment, yet there are claims
that having a certain percent of unemployment can be “healthy”, according to studies carried out
by the International Labor Organization in 1996. They believe that the increasing rate of
unemployment is normal or acceptable for having a balance in the economy of a country.
However, the ILO acknowledges that achieving employment is wanted by everyone, as socially
and individually none of us want to remain and feel worthless. “The current high levels of
unemployment may represent an economic equilibrium according to “natural rate” theories but it
is certainly not an equilibrium that is acceptable on social grounds” (ILO, 1996, pp23). The
potential mental consequences of unemployment are very immense, which would lead to social
ills imprinting self destruction and causing damages to the societies which will continue for a
long time to come.

From the beginning of the 20th century, unemployment was articulated as an alarming issue in
the world. Yet, there had been failure in not being able to create full employment to which the
economists states that “they are not in control of policy and hence cannot be pilloried for the
failures of the economic system to create jobs for all” (Corry, 1996, pp). Lately gender
mainstreaming has taken major significance in defining unemployment. Initially unemployment
was a male oriented phenomenon owing to the fact that during industrialization the full time
participation in the Labor market was male, while female participation was either part time or
seasonal. Yet to these days the role of female has greater significance in the workplace as well,
evolved throughout from a stereotype notion of housekeepers to equally strong and willing to
work in the fields as the men folks. Probably this is one reason for rising female unemployment
which has become a greater concern.

The OECD and the ILO gathered data from various countries, which include the developed,
transitional and developing countries which reveals that the unemployment is significantly
higher in the case of young people. It also indicates that unemployment is significantly higher in
the case of young people with lower level of education followed by the disabled and young
women. From the context of country experiences, it shows one of the main causes as the poor
performance of the country. Based on such available information it was suggested that the focus
of any developing any policies for curbing down youth unemployment should be given to that
particular section of the young people without education, as opposed to young people in general.

The Global Trend of Employment Report (ILO, 1996,pp23-30) states that prior to the beginning
of the economic crisis in the world, young people were 2.8 times as likely to be unemployed than
were adults at the global level. Therefore, it is a concern that the impact of the economic crisis
has been particularly harsh for youth, who face a global shortage of employment opportunities as
they will be entering the labour market. Studies carried out by the ILO predicted that the number
of unemployed youth will increase by between 4.9 million and 17.7 million from 2008 to 2009.
The youth unemployment rate is projected to increase from 12.2 per cent in 2008 to between
13.0 and 15.1 per cent in 2009. For adults, who make up the bulk of the labour force, the
projected increase in the unemployment rate is 0.5 to 1.2 percentage points. With constant rise of
incidences of joblessness among young people, it has become a serious concern about the
consequences which would have numerous adverse effects on the individuals and the society as a
whole.

According to ILO (2010, pp18), the rate of youth unemployment worldwide is nearly a third
higher than in 2007 including growing levels of unemployment. They argue that a number of
steps are acquired to improve youth unemployment prospects, including better and more focused
education, improved help from when transitioning to the work place and an overall boosts in job
creation.
According to the International Labor Organisation (2010, pp18), Nigeria too, as one of the
largest economy in Africa by Gross National Product is also experiencing this global
phenomenon of youth unemployment. The West African country with the highest population in
Africa has growing youth population which in turn increases the youth unemployment. By 2011,
the unemployment rate of among the youths was estimated to be fifty percent. However, the case
is similar in many other African countries such as Republic of South Africa, Kenya, and Ghana
had 25%, 40% and 11% respectively.

Chukwemeka (2009, pp3-8) states that the World Bank Statistical data list Nigeria’s youth
unemployment is closer to eighty percent. The rate of youth population education continues to
rise with Nigerian universities producing for over one hundred and fifty graduates per year, but
the rate of job production has not kept to pace with the production of university graduates per
year. There are a number of reports relating to youth unemployment and crime in Nigeria. One
report stated that, in the period 2003-2011, with the exception of 2014, youth unemployment was
over thirty percent (Alabi, 2014, pp301).

Furthermore, youth unemployment was consistently about three times higher than
unemployment for general population (ibid). Nigerian National Bureau of statistics found the
average youth unemployment rate in 2012 was 46.5 percent. The trend of increasing youth
unemployment is clear from the fact that the 2001 rate was 30.7 percent and that for 2010 was
35.2 percent (Alabi, 2014, pp4).In addition, while youth unemployment is connected with
criminality in Nigeria, in Zimbabwe, for example, it is associated with political violence. A study
of youth unemployment and political violence in Zimbabwe (Mude, 2014, pp107-139), attributes
the latter to high levels of unemployment, more especially among urban youths, over eighty
percent of whom are unemployed. "Youths who are not employed have been the agents of
political violence in the country. Unemployment youth are often recruited by political parties....
to operate as youth militia members. They have been and are responsible for torturing,
intimidating and killing civilians who do not their political affiliations". The author add "It is not
that urban unemployed youths are violent by nature" but they are manipulated by political
leaders to be that way.
Like Nigeria, Caribbean is also characterized by high unemployment among youth. World Bank
(2013c, pp32), discovered that, among Caribbean countries, the highest unemployment rates
were found in Barbados (26.7 percent compared with 11.1 percent for the whole population),
Trinidad and Tobago (12 percent compared with 4.8 percent), Jamaica (30.1 percent compared
with 12.7 percent) and Barbados (18.9 percent compared with 7.9 percent). Other countries in the
region show the same high levels of youth unemployment being far higher than in the general
population.

Although the United Nations defines youth as people between the age of fifteen and twenty four.
The United Nations recognizes that each region may have its own specific definition of youth. In
South Africa, youth are those aged fifteen to thirty four years. It is often asked why children aged
fifteen to eighteen years, who are supposed to be in school, are included in the working age
population. This is formed by the compulsory school attendance age. The South African Schools
of Act number (84) of 1996 states that “Subject to this Act and any applicable provincial law,
every parent must cause every learner for whom he or she is responsible to attend a school from
first school day of the year in which such learner reaches the age of seven years until the last
school day of the year in which such learner reaches the age of fifteen years or the ninth grade,
whichever occurs first”.

According to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) of the first quarter of 2021, young
people in the South African Labour Market unemployment rate was 32.6%. This rate was 46.3%
among youth aged fifteen to thirty-four years, implying that almost one in every two young
people in labour force did not have a job in the first quarter of 2021. About a quarter (24.4%) of
the youth have jobs and (45.3%) of them participate in the labour market. Within the youth,
those aged fifteen to twenty four years are more vulnerable in the labour market with an
unemployment rate of over 63%, absorption of about (7.6%) and a labour force participation rate
of 20.6%.

Moreover, Youth unemployment in South Africa has reached critical proportions: it was
measured at 53.6% in 2013, and in 2014, youth comprised 41.8% of the total national
unemployment rate of 25.4%. Socioeconomic inequality and inadequate education are two
factors that drive such high unemployment rates; rates that disguise how the situation
disproportionately affects black youths. Youth unemployment is a chronic problem too, which
dates back two decades under democratic government. Between 1995 and 1999, unemployment
for high school graduates entering the job market jumped by 10 percentage points, from 28% to
38.4%,(3) and the youth unemployment rate was actually a shade higher in 2005 (48.4%) than it
was amid the global financial crisis in 2009 (48.2%), Quarterly Labor Survey (2021).

In addition, South Africa has the third highest unemployment rate in the world for people
between the ages of 15 to 24, according to the World Bank (2013c, pp) report. The report
estimates that more than 50% of young South Africans between 15 and 24 are unemployed. Only
Greece and Spain have higher unemployment in this age range than SA, the report states. The
other two countries in the top 5 of most unemployed youth are Portugal and Italy. Both have
youth unemployment of more than 30%, but less than 40%. The report calls the more than 73
million unemployed people between 15 and 24 in the world the "lost generation". "At the same
time the 5 rising cost of higher education has left a generation with unpayable debt and little
chance of finding a job," states the report.

Nonetheless, existing estimates indicate that in Sub-Saharan Africa, urban unemployment affects
between 15 to 20 per cent of the work force (ILO, 2013, pp23). According to these estimates,
young people comprise 40 to 75 per cent of the total number of the unemployed, Compared with
an adult unemployment rate of 5.9 per cent in 2012, youth are twice as likely to be unemployed,
with an estimated youth unemployment rate of 11.8 per cent in 2012 (ILO, 2013, pp23). Youth
unemployment rates much higher than the regional average are found in South Africa, where
over half of young people in the labour force were unemployed in the first three quarters of 2012.

Thousands of young South Africans cannot find jobs; many more are in jobs which do not fulfill
their capabilities or ambitions. Even then, of the few youth that are able to find formal
employment, the majority is male. The study by Chigunta (2002) indicated that urban
unemployment in Africa has affected youth from a broad spectrum of socioeconomic groups,
both the well-and-less well educated, although it has particularly stricken a substantial fraction of
youth from low-income backgrounds and limited education.
In addition, in African continent has a rapidly growing population of youth in the World. There
are over 226 million people aged between 15 and 24, constituting to 19% of the entire youth
population globally. It is estimated that, they account for over 60% of Africa’s entire population.
This means that the topic of youth unemployment is therefore indispensable in this region.
Inadequate academic qualifications and poor infrastructure are some of the causes of youth
unemployment in Africa.

In the months following the start of COVID_19 pandemic, there was a large fall in the
unemployment levels for youths aged sixteen to twenty four, and a large rise in the number of
economic inactive youth people. This was followed a smaller rise in unemployment. Thus,
unemployment levels are now below pre-pandemic levels, however, the number of young people
in employment remains below and the number of those who are economically inactive remains
above those levels.

Comparing the latest quarter, June-August 2021, with the pre-pandemic quarter of January
March 2020, the number of unemployed youth was below pre-pandemic levels by thirty four
thousand, a six percent fall. In July to September 2020, it has risen by fourteen percent from pre-
pandemic levels; however, since then the levels for young people have gradually been failing.
The unemployment rate was (12.2%) compared to a pre-pandemic rate of (12.3%). This
increased to 14.8% in July to September. In addition, one hundred and fifty two thousand more
young people have become inactive.

The unemployment rate (the proportion of the economically active population who are
unemployed) for sixteen to twenty four year olds was12.2% from June to August 2021. This is
down from 13.5% in the previous quarter down from 14.3% a year before. Eighty percent of the
youth who are economically active are in full time education. Thus, for context, it is worth
noting that the total population aged sixteen to twenty four has been declining in recent years
(Adams, 1997,pp18).

Previous studies on youth unemployment rate around the globe have provided significant
evidence on the magnitude of the youth unemployment problem. According to the literature, the
problem of unemployment is higher among the youth as compared to the adult population in both
developed and developing countries. Factors such as lack of experiences and skills, skills
mismatch and low school leaving age have been said to contribute to the high youth
unemployment compared to the adult population (Godfrey, 2003, pp320).

The study by Dimian (2011, pp105-115) investigated the determinants of youth labor market
performance and their influences on the future economic and social development of the CEE
countries. The study reported that youth unemployment has negative impact to country’s gross
domestic product (GDP). The study also reported that unemployment benefit, tax wage on labor
cost has impact to youth unemployment. The study also found that, countries with high rate of
youth employed in agriculture have a lower youth unemployment problem.

According to ILO (1996, pp23) on global employment trends for youth, poverty and lack of
decent employments was among the major challenges facing most of youth in East Asia and
African region. The estimates indicated that among five youth people only one youth was
employed and the life standard was on average below 1USD while some of the employed youth
were unpaid or low paid. The report indicated that most of the youth people were constrained
with limited education, skills and experience that did not support them to penetrate in the labor
market and improve their human capital.

The evidence by World Bank (2013c, pp32) indicated that in most developing countries youth
people are not completing secondary education or other vocational training, as a result most of
them are vulnerable to engage in activities such as drug abuse, alcohol, unsafe sex and crime
which not only make them unproductive. Other empirical evidences on youth unemployment
include the study by Dimitrov (2012, pp4) which examined youth unemployment in Bulgaria.

The study reported that youth employment problem was high in the country and factors such as
early school leaving age, low education quality and business cycle were the key determinants of
youth unemployment. The study also found that social status and family background have great
impact on youth unemployment. If parents or one of the parents are unemployed, inactive, have
low education, illiterate, without skills and qualification, live in poverty, belong to particular
ethnic groups are likely to duplicate the same to the youth people. The study by Bruno & Cazes
(1998, pp10) presented an overview of French youth unemployment. The findings of the study
indicated high unemployment rate among the youth in French as a result of labor market
condition linked to economic activity level. The study also reported that high labor cost, youth to
adult unfavorable job competition, lack of qualification, unsupportive wage system and
unsustainable training have high contribution to youth unemployment in the country.

A comparative study of youth unemployment in Germany and United Kingdom also provide
evidence of high youth unemployment rates. The study concluded that gender, education and
experience are the key individual risks which contribute to youth unemployment. The study
reported that female youth were at disadvantage to acquire jobs in Germany while males were at
the disadvantage side in United Kingdom (Isengard, 2003, pp357-77). Likewise, the study
Awogbenle & Iwuamandi (2010, pp831-35) examined the constraints that impede young people
in search of non-existing jobs in Nigeria. The study reported that facilitating self-employment,
bringing alienated and marginalized youth back into the main economic stream, facilitating skills
and experience development and promoting innovations are some of the possible solutions to the
youth unemployment problem in the country.

The study by Klasen & Woolard (2005, pp45) also examined the problems of youth
unemployment in South Africa. The study reported that household formation response of the
unemployment is the critical way unemployed youth can get access to resources. The authors
noted that the youth unemployment problem delays young people in the establishment of their
own households. Studies on youth unemployment in Tanzania have reported almost similar
factors which have been reported as the causes of high youth unemployment in other countries
particularly in Sub Saharan. The study by Mjema (1997, pp1-997), on youth unemployment in
Tanzania reported that factors such as education system, lack of skills in business training,
inadequate credit facilities, emphasis on formal sector alone, non-attractive agricultural sectors,
gender imbalance and inadequate information were the key determinants of youth
unemployment.

Likewise, the study by Bagachwa (1991, pp1) provides the potential of the informal sector in the
creation of employment opportunities for youth people in the country. These studies are among
the important studies on youth unemployment in the country but they are both outdated. There
have been several reforms in the country's economy, social and environment which came with
inactions of different laws and regulations regarding employment, education systems as well as
financing. The financial sector reforms for example have resulted into more availability of
financing from informal and semi-formal sector such as microfinance institutions and regional
cooperative banks.

The study by Samji et al (2009, pp5) evaluated the energy jobs and skills in Mtwara Tanzania.
The findings of the study indicated high labor shortages of electricians and high potential
shortage in the future as the electricity grid expands. The study provides evidence of the skills
gap, especially among the youth people in the country which increases the problems of youth
unemployment. The finding of the study highlights that the higher youth unemployment rate in
the country does not always mean the absence of jobs but the ability of youth to acquire the
available jobs.

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Bagachwa, M.S.D (1991). Choice of Technology in Industry: The Economics of Grains Milling
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