Young Adults and Labor Markets in Africa
This paper harmonizes surveys and censuses from 68 low- and middle-income countries to compare their job prospects
Abstract
Every year, millions of young adults join the labour market in Africa. This paper harmonizes surveys and censuses from 68 low- and middle-income countries to compare their job prospects to those of their counterparts in other low-income regions. We show that employment rates are similar at similar levels of development but that young adults in Africa are less likely to have a salaried job, especially when the size of their cohort is large. Building on existing evidence on the impacts of interventions targeting both the demand and supply sides of the labour market, we discuss policy priorities for boosting the growth of salaried job creation in the region.
This research is part of the Gender, Growth and Labour Markets in Low Income Countries programme
Citation
Bandiera, O., Elsayed, A., Smurra, A. and Zipfel, C. (2022). “Young Adults and Labor Markets in Africa”. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 36 (1): 81-100. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.36.1.81.
Bandiera, O., Elsayed, A., Smurra, A. and Zipfel, C. (2022). “Young Adults and Labor Markets in Africa”. G2LM LIC Working Paper No. 58.