TOPIC: DETERMINANTS OF UNEMPLOYMENT AMONG THE YOUTH IN BUSEMBA SUB COUNTY, KYANKWANZI DISTRICT
Background of the study
According to the Commonwealth(2007), youth is a person aged 15 to 29; UN take youth to be persons aged 14 to 25 whereas the National Youth Policy defines youth as all young person’s female and male, aged 12 to 30 years (Balunzi, 2001).
The International Labour Organization defines unemployed youth as the proportion of the youth labour force that is unemployed. The unemployed comprise all persons above a specified age who, during the reference point, were: without work, currently available for work and actively seeking work. The labour force therefore is the sum of the number of persons employed and the number of persons unemployed.
According to the Callaway (2011), persons aged 15-19 years constitute about 29% of the 21.6 million of the population. Of these, females constitute 51% and males 49%. Most of the youths live in rural areas; but a significant number migrate to urban areas in hope of finding employment. However, most of the youth fail to get jobs and end up in urban slums and streets. They engage in unproductive or anti-social activities like prostitution, thuggery, drugs and substance abuse thereby increasing pressure on the few urban facilities and amenities.
Although in 1986 the National Resistance Movement (NRM) government made a radical departure in organizing the youth and put in place structures to empower them socially and economically, these have not been accompanied by sufficient resources. Both the department responsible for youth and the National Youth Council lack adequate resources. While a number of measures have been adopted to address the concerns of the youth such as skills and enterprise development programs, the efforts are still insufficient to meet the varied needs of the majority of the youth, (Youth Entrepreneurial Schemes (YES), 2002). It should also be noted that unlike in the past (1980s to 1990s) many youth serving organizations and Community Based-Organizations (CBOs) emerge which, while doing commendable jobs, work independently of each other (Balunzi, 2001).
To eradicate unemployment, Uganda requires creating 600,000 jobs every year yet the current investments generate only 2000 jobs every year. There is therefore need for awareness and build an adequate understanding of issues by the government to enhance youth employment opportunities through entrepreneurship skills development, increased investments in industries; curriculum also has to be invested to emphasize knowledge base.
The youths are universally recognized as an important part of any society. To this end, both global and local programs as well as institutions have focused efforts upon the youths. For example, the United Nations has set aside every twelfth day of August of every year as an International Youth Day. This was all intended to mobilize local and international attention towards the youth and the problems they face particularly unemployment. In Uganda, the National Youth Council which has a full secretariat both from the National level (Parliament) to the village level, clearly spells out that youth be represented at all levels of decision making. In Busemba, youths are also represented by their youth councilors and also assisted by several technical people such as LCs and other civil servants such as RDCs, a fully elected Member of Parliament, among others. Sadly, in spite of all these efforts, there is very little evidence on ground to show that youth have been empowered although many have attained tertiary education. The rate of unemployment is alarming. Not many studies have been undertaken to establish the causes, effects as well as solutions to such high unemployment rate.
General objective
To examine the determinants of unemployment among the youth in Busemba sub county, Kyankwanzi district.
Specific objectives of the study
- 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.
Research questions
- What are the causes of youth unemployment?
- What are the effects of unemployment among the youth in the area?
- Suggest strategies towards youth unemployment.
Theories on youth unemployment
Youth unemployment is the unemployment of young people, defined by the United Nations as 14–28 years old. An unemployed person is defined as someone who does not have a job but is actively seeking work. In order to qualify as unemployed for official and statistical measurement, the individual must be without employment, willing and able to work, of the officially designated ‘working age‘ and actively searching for a position. Youth unemployment rates are historically four to five times more than the adult rates in every country in the world. In 2012, youth made up to 40% of the world unemployed, with a global youth unemployment rate of 12.6%. Close to 75 million youth were unemployed worldwide.
Causes of youth unemployment
Callaway (2011) also argues that, in many countries, the rapid extension of formal education has itself has been a significant factor in the growth of youth unemployment. Andre (2001) reported that youth with multiple social economic disadvantages, for example, low education attainment, physical and mental handicaps and young girls with early pregnancies are most likely to comprise the bulk of young people in this high risk group of unemployment.
Effects of youth unemployment
Balunzi (2001) argues that youth who fail to get jobs end up in urban slums and streets and engage in unproductive activities like prostitution, thugery, drugs and substance abuse. Many young people experience serious difficulties during this transition period. Owen (2009) argues that the implications of unemployment for young people may include poverty, migration to urban areas, homelessness and housing problems, rising crime rates in some areas, lack of youth participation in society and low morale among young people. Implications that have impact on young women are adolescent prostitution and higher rates of teenage pregnancies. Young women may find their life changes particularly limited.
Solutions to youth unemployment
According to Bishop Ssekamaanya (2009), the government should create jobs for graduates to reduce on the number of those seeking greener pastures abroad. The solution to combating youth unemployment lies in establishing youth clubs all over the country.
Mukula (2011) argues that the government should develop policies and implement programmes that can enable youths to employ themselves in career through enterprise creation. Youth should embrace the entrepreneurship drive as it would reduce ignorance that is fueling unemployment in Uganda. The youth should learn how to save thus knowing how to save and invest is important for a successful enterprise and would assist in the reduction of the high youth unemployment problem.
This will contain a detailed description of how the research will be conducted.
The study will use a descriptive analytical research design. Both qualitative and quantitative methods will be used to acquire information on the causes, effects and solutions to the persistent unemployment among youth. This will be to enable the researcher to gather a wide range of information required by the objectives of the study
Sample size and Sampling procedure or technique
The sample size will be made of 30 respondents; amongst who will be youths, parents and the local council chairperson. The researcher will use a simple random sampling technique where the essence will be to allow every member of the population to get an equal opportunity to be included in the study and to reduce biases in selecting samples.
Data collection and instruments
In order to get reliable and accurate data, the researcher will use a questionnaire.
The collected data will be analyzed manually using tallies and the responses of the subjects will be then categorized in frequency counts and score tables with varying percentages calculated and later tabulation method graphs and pie charts will be used to present data.
REFERENCES
Owen, A.(2009) “Gender and Development: London: Published by the Commonwealth Secretariat
World Bank. (2008). Warning to Uganda on youth unemployment: Kampala: Published by Rosebell Kagumire, Uganda Multi-Media Journalist.
Museveni, Y.K. (2009) Speech at the International Youth Day celebrations: Luwero: Published by UNFPA Uganda.
International Labour Organization. (2005).Report on youth unemployment: Los Angeles: American Bar publishers
Callaway.A. (2011) “Education, planning and unemployment:Paris:Published by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
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.
Sekamanya, M. (2009). Daily Monitor: Thursday April 22nd 2009: Mukono: Published by T. Ogwang.
Mukula.M. (2011) Daily Monitor: Monday, August 1st 2011: Kampala: posted by Mike Mukula
