Assessing the Impact of Government’s YouStart Initiative on Entrepreneurship as a Means of Tackling Unemployment in Accra
Chapter One
Objective of the study
The objectives of the study are;
- To ascertain the activities of YouStart initiative towards unemployment alleviation in Ghana
- To ascertain the extent which YouStart initiative generate empowerment to the youths of Ghana
- To ascertain how YouStart Initiative alleviate poverty in Ghana.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Definitions of Unemployment
According to Amoafo (2011), the definition of unemployment has since 1954 been periodically revised, its basic criteria however, remain intact, i.e. a person is to be considered unemployed if he/she, during a reference period, simultaneously satisfies being: a) “without work” b) “currently available for work”, and c) “seeking work”. The World Book of Encyclopedia (1974:13) defines unemployment simply as the state of a person who wants to work but does not have a job. International Labour Organisation (ILO, cited by Oben-Tarkornoo, 2009) defines unemployment as the numbers of the economically active population who are without work but available for and seeking work, including people who have lost their jobs and those who have voluntarily left work. According to these definitions, the term does not refer to people who are not seeking work because of age, illness or a mental or physical handicap, nor does it refer to people who are attending school or keeping house. Such people are classified as out of the labour force rather than unemployed. Lipsy (1989) shares a similar view that lazy people, the underage, the retired and the physically challenged who by virtue of their conditions are not seeking jobs cannot be classified as unemployed.
Traditionally the types of unemployment we have include:
Frictional unemployment which is the time period between jobs when a worker is searching for or transitioning one job to another.
Seasonal unemployment which according to Dictionary.com is the periodic unemployment created by seasonal variations in particular industries especially industries such as construction that are affected by weather. It is also a kind of structural unemployment since it is a type of unemployment that is linked to certain kinds of jobs.
Structural unemployment which is a form of unemployment resulting from a mismatch between demand in the labour market and the skills and locations of the workers seeking employment. Even though the number of vacancies may be equal to, or greater than the number of the unemployed, the unemployed workers may lack the skills needed for the jobs or they may not live in the part of the country or world where the jobs are available.
Voluntary Unemployment. Farlex Financial Dictionary (2012) defines voluntary unemployment as the number of persons in economy without jobs because they choose to be unemployed. An example of a voluntarily unemployed person is one who rejects a position while looking for one with better pay or benefits. Therefore, most frictional unemployment (unemployment when one is between 18 jobs) is considered voluntary because one is looking for work rather than taking any job one finds.
Of recent occurrence in Ghana has been another form of unemployment, the graduate unemployment phenomenon which is the situation where some graduates after completing their National Service are unable to find work even though they are available for work. Poku-Boansi and Afrane (2011) reckons the definition of unemployment in the Ghanaian economy as difficult since the concept is usually referred to those who are engaged in formal economy wage employment. Consequently, although unemployment is quite high, only a relatively small proportion of the labour force is usually recorded as unemployed (Abdek-Rahman, 1994).
Chapter Three
Research methodology
Research Design
The research design adopted in this research work is the survey research design which involves the usage of self-designed questionnaire in the collection of data. Under the survey research design, primary data of this study will be collected from selected residents in Accra in order to assessing the Impact of Government’s YouStart Initiative on Entrepreneurship as a Means of Tackling Unemployment in Accra. The design was chosen because it enables the researcher to collect data without manipulation of any variables of interest in the study. The design also provides opportunity for equal chance of participation in the study for respondents.
Population of Study
The population of study is the census of all items or a subject that possess the characteristics or that have the knowledge of the phenomenon that is being studied (Asiaka, 1991). It also means the aggregate people from which the sample is to be drawn.
Population is sometimes referred to as the universe. The population of this research study will be Seventy-five (75) selected residents in Accra
Sample Size and Sampling Techniques
The researcher made use of stratified sampling technique because all the members have the same probability of occurrence. The researcher narrowed down the samples to selected residents in Accra in order to assessing the Impact of Government’s YouStart Initiative on Entrepreneurship as a Means of Tackling Unemployment in Accra.
In this study, the researcher used the [TARO YAMANE FORMULA] to determine the sample size.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
This chapter is about the analysis and presentation of data collected from the field through questionnaire. The analysis of the data with particular question immediately followed by the presentation of findings.
As mentioned in chapter three, 63 questionnaires were administered and 50 were retrieved and necessary analysis was carried out on them and presented as follows:
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain assessing the Impact of Government’s YouStart Initiative on Entrepreneurship as a Means of Tackling Unemployment in Accra. In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges of assessing the Impact of Government’s YouStart Initiative on Entrepreneurship as a Means of Tackling Unemployment in Accra.
Summary
This study was on assessing the Impact of Government’s YouStart Initiative on Entrepreneurship as a Means of Tackling Unemployment in Accra. Three objectives were raised which included: To ascertain the activities of YouStart initiative towards unemployment alleviation in Ghana, to ascertain the extent which YouStart initiative generate empowerment to the youths of Ghana and to ascertain how YouStart Initiative alleviate poverty in Ghana. The total population for the study is 75 selected residents in Accra. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
Conclusion
In doing this, the study compares the unemployment level in the state before the introduction of youstart with the unemployment level during the youstart programme. With the result shows that there is no significance difference between unemployment rate before the introduction of youstart and unemployment. Hence, the finding reveals that youstart have no significant influence on the unemployment situation in the state. Further finding reveals that unemployment is quite alarming in the state
Recommendation
In this light, these studies recommend that efforts geared towards long-term employment in the state should be adopted rather than short-term empowerment programmes. Also, the government of the state should see to welfare of her citizen by ensuring that jobs are created in ministries and parastatals and these are made open for all rather than embarking on underground recruitment exercise. Most importantly, beneficiaries of youstart should be made to stay on the programme until they find paid employment rather than laying them off after two years to join the mass unemployed paupers.
References
- Abdel – Rahman F, 1994. Africa Employment Report International Labour Organization Publication Geneva.
- Amankrah J.Y., 2000. Ghana’s Experience in Apprenticeship Training and other skills Development imitative in the informal sector: Paper Presented at Brown Bag working Lunch, the World Bank, Washington D.C. November 2000.
- Amankrah J.Y., 2003. “Ghana Decent Work Statistical Indicators: Fact Finding Study ILO Working Paper, ILO Geneva September, 2003.
- Amankrah J.Y., 2003. Report on Registration of Unemployed Persons. Ministry of Manpower Development and Employment, Ghana.
- Amankrah J.Y. 2006. “Assessing the effects of Recent Labour Market intervention on Poverty in Ghana” in Labour and Growth: Better Jobs under Globalsation. IDRC/NSPIA. Carleton University, Ottawa Canada.
- Atkinson et al 1995. New Dictionary of Christian Ethics & Pastoral Theology: Inter Varsity Press Nottingham, England.
- Ayyagari M. Et. all., 2007. Small and Medium Enterprises across the Globe, Small Business Economics 29.
- Bleakly, D., 1983. Work: The Shadow and Substance, a re-appraisal of life and labour, SCM Press, London. Chambers, M.I., 2008. The African Youth and Employment: ECOWAS Commission Accra.
- Ghana 5 September, 2008. Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) 2008. Living Standard Survey. Report on the Fifth Round Accra. Ghana Statistical Service, (GSS) 2010 Population and Housing Census.
- International Labour Organization (ILO) 2012. An Analytical Study of the Labour Market for Global Employment Trends for the Youth.
