The Nature and Determinants of Urban Youth Unemployment in Ethiopia

Abstract

­Youth are important driving forces for social, political and economic development in any country. In Ethiopia, youth make up approximately 28.3% of the population but the problem of youth unemployment is a central issue of public discourse in Ethiopia. The main purpose of this study is to establish the nature and determinants of urban youth unemployment in Ethiopia. This study employs the micro level data from Urban Employment-Unemployment Survey conducted between 2006 and 2011 by Ethiopian Central Statistics Authority. The study mainly applies logistic regression model to examine the relationship between urban youth unemployment and a set of explanatory variables. The Study reveals that the prevalence of urban youth is still high as compared to the total unemployment rate though the urban youth unemployment decreased between 2006 and 2011. The situation is very critical for young women who suffer higher unemployment rates than young men in urban areas of the country over the study period. The logistic regression model shows that place of residence (regions), gender, age categories, and marital status significantly affect the urban youth unemployment in Ethiopia. Surprisingly, education did not guarantee the employability of youth in urban areas of Ethiopia. Thus, the study points out that government must work more on enhancing the public and private labor market information and educational structure based on the labor demand of the economy. In addition, the study underlines the need for policy that focuses on gender sensitive urban-center employment initiatives to improve the employability of the youth.

Key words: Urban youth, Unemployment, Urban-center Employment initiatives, Ethiopia