Causes of Unemployment Among the Youth
Chapter One
Objective/ Purpose of the study
The purpose of the study is to find out the causes of youth unemployment in Manyanya village in Busia district. The study was broken down into the following objectives;
- To identify the causes of youth unemployment.
- To find out the effects of unemployment among the youth in the area.
- To propose solutions towards youth unemployment.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
INTRODUCTION
Our focus in this chapter is to critically examine relevant literature that would assist in explaining the research problem and furthermore recognize the efforts of scholars who had previously contributed immensely to similar research. The chapter intends to deepen the understanding of the study and close the perceived gaps.
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
Unemployment
Unemployment can be defined as a situation in which people are willing to work at the prevailing rate of pay, but cannot find a job. Jhingan, M. L. (2001). However, he has categorized unemployment as frictional, seasonal, structural or cyclical in nature. Frictional unemployment refers to a situation when people are temporarily unemployed. This may arise due to changing labour force and jobs in an economy. Seasonal unemployment on the other hand refers to a situation when people lose their jobs due to the nature of jobs. Structural unemployment arises in an economy when all factors of production are committed to production of goods and services (full-employment). While, cyclical unemployment is caused as a result of changes in aggregate demand.
The major causes responsible for the persistence of unemployment in Nigeria include the following; slow growth of the economy, undiversified economic structure, inadequate infrastructure, Shortages of skilled personnel, inadequate capacity of vocational skills etc Balami (2006).
The problem of unemployment has in recent years aggravated the problem of poverty, political instability and insecurity in Nigeria. As such the provision of employment opportunities and eradication of poverty has been at the center stage of economic policy reform in Nigeria. For example the National Economic Empowerment Development Strategies (NEEDS) have job creation, poverty reduction and wealth creation as its major goals (National Planning Commission, 2004).
Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is persons above a specified age (usually 15)[2] not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the reference period. Unemployment is measured by the unemployment rate, which is the number of people who are unemployed as a percentage of the labour force (the total number of people employed added to those unemployed).
Unemployment can have many sources, such as the following:
- new technologies and inventions
- the status of the economy, which can be influenced by a recession
- competition caused by globalization and international trade
- policies of the government
- regulation and market
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, we described the research procedure for this study. A research methodology is a research process adopted or employed to systematically and scientifically present the results of a study to the research audience viz. a vis, the study beneficiaries.
RESEARCH DESIGN
Research designs are perceived to be an overall strategy adopted by the researcher whereby different components of the study are integrated in a logical manner to effectively address a research problem. In this study, the researcher employed the survey research design. This is due to the nature of the study whereby the opinion and views of people are sampled. According to Singleton & Straits, (2009), Survey research can use quantitative research strategies (e.g., using questionnaires with numerically rated items), qualitative research strategies (e.g., using open-ended questions), or both strategies (i.e., mixed methods). As it is often used to describe and explore human behaviour, surveys are therefore frequently used in social and psychological research.
POPULATION OF THE STUDY
According to Udoyen (2019), a study population is a group of elements or individuals as the case may be, who share similar characteristics. These similar features can include location, gender, age, sex or specific interest. The emphasis on study population is that it constitute of individuals or elements that are homogeneous in description.
The focus of the study is to find out the causes of youth unemployment using Manyanya village in Busia district of Uganda as case study. Resident of Manyanya village form the population of the study.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents the analysis of data derived through the questionnaire and key informant interview administered on the respondents in the study area. The analysis and interpretation were derived from the findings of the study. The data analysis depicts the simple frequency and percentage of the respondents as well as interpretation of the information gathered. A total of fifty (50) questionnaires were administered to respondents of which all were returned and validated. This was due to irregular, incomplete and inappropriate responses to some questionnaire. For this study a total of 50 was validated for the analysis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
SUMMARY
The focus of the study is to find out the causes of youth unemployment using Manyanya village in Busia district of Uganda as case study. The study examines the meaning of unemployment, the perceived causes of unemployment, it effect and the possible solutions to help remedy the situation.
The study adopted a survey research design and with the aid of convenient sampling techniques, fifty (50) participants who are resident of Manyanya village in Busia district of Uganda was enrolled for the study. A well structured questionnaire was issued to the respondent of which all responses were received and validated for the study. Data was analyzed using simple percentage as well as frequencies and table.
CONCLUSION
The challenges of fighting the rising unemployment level in Uganda are the major task of policy makers and economic managers alike. The consequences of growing unemployment rates are such damning that no economy can afford to despise. Such implications are glaring in the economy of Uganda where many negative developments are traceable to the non-availability of jobs for the teaming population of energetic youths.
Unemployment has a serious implication on the effected people’s live patterns, mostly their social relationship with the society and equally those of their families who depend on them for survival. Moreover, unemployment causes rural – urban migration as a result of the lack of facilities or social amenities in the rural areas and over utilization of social amenities in urban areas that causes social problems such as crime, prostitution, thuggery, armed robbery, riots, drug smuggling kidnapping, insecurity, etc, which made international community not to respect or recognize Uganda citizens.
The study findings revealed that unemployment affects more male youth than females. The major causes of unemployment identified in this study were: low levels of education, lack of adequate skills, job selectivity, limited job opportunities, as well as bad government policies. Effects included: Poor standards of living, high crime rate, limited basic services, high dependency, and limited access to resources. The study concluded that most of the respondents have ever gone to school and very few who never had education but a big proportion of them were all affected by unemployment. Proposed strategies included government commitment, vocational training, credit provision, and increased access to resources.
RECOMMENDATION
Following the conclusions drawn from the study, the researcher makes the following recommendations:
- The government should increase social services in education so that each and every one in the village gets access to education. This will assist many people to become literate and acquire knowledge and skills of starting their own gainful activities.
- Stakeholders should establish vocational training institutions where the youth can acquire skills in various activities such as carpentry, brick making, and entrepreneurial skills among others.
- Youth must be sensitized to be willing to take on any lawful economic activity so long as it is profitable.
- The government should review its policies with a view to making them youth-employment friendly
- Government should reform education curricula in both secondary and vocational schools to emphasize income generating activities through entrepreneurial skills development, increased investment in industries as well as curriculum to be invested in to emphasize knowledge base.
- The government, NGOs and other stakeholders should intervene and access basic services to people at ease. These should include education, medical care among others.
- The government should also establish micro-finance institutions in every community where people can go and acquire credit in form of startup capital for their own small businesses.
REFERENCE
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- Balunzi.J.M. (MP) (2001) Vision for youth in the 21st century a history of gender labour and social development: Kampala: Ministry of Gender Labour and Social Development.
- Bisping, T.O and Hilde, P. (2005).”Output and Unemployment: New Evidence on Regional Disparities “International Journal of Applied Economics 2(1).
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