The average youth unemployment rate – relaxed definition – stood highest in in Nepal at 28.9 per cent, according to an international report.

The average youth unemployment rate – relaxed definition – was 14.2 per cent, the new report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) revealed adding that the lowest level was in Cambodia (3.8 per cent) and the highest in Nepal (28.9 per cent).

Likewise, the qualifications-work mismatch is high among young workers in all five countries, over one-half of young workers in Bangladesh, Cambodia and Nepal are undereducated for the work they do, it added. “At least one in four working youth expressed a desire to change their job.”

According to the study, Labour market transitions of young women and men in Asia and the Pacific, five out of 10 young workers in the region are self-employed. “Most of the young people are not benefiting fully from the education system, as more than 50 per cent of young people finished their education at primary level or below in Nepal, the report said, adding that in Nepal, Bangladesh and Cambodia more than 50 per cent of young people finished their education at primary level or below. ” In Cambodia and Nepal young women are more likely to drop out early. The most frequent explanation given for this was ‘economic reasons’, thus implying that household poverty will perpetuate itself to the next generation.

Although lack of education is not an obstacle to finding work – in fact unemployment rates increase with the level of education – the results clearly show that investing in education brings positive returns in terms of wages and access to ‘better’ jobs.

However there is also a high level of mismatch between qualifications and work in all five countries. More than half of young workers in Bangladesh, Cambodia and Nepal are under-educated for the work they do. It can have a negative impact on worker productivity and so on enterprise output, and can also affect the individual’s sense of security.

Agriculture and services are the main employment sectors for young people, in all the countries, except Bangladesh and Viet Nam, where industry is the primary sector for young women, it added.

Nearly half of workers aged 15−29 in Asia and the Pacific are self-employed and two in three youth are in paid work without a written contract, it revealed, adding that informality and vulnerable employment are the reality for the vast majority of young workers in region.

While unemployment remains an important concern for young people in the region, the low-quality of work is by far a bigger problem. Of those, who do have jobs, very few have a written employment contract or access to core benefits like paid sick leave or social security coverage.

“The lack of prospects for secure employment, along with increased education, access to modern technology and exposure to the perceived advantages of developed economies, create the risk of frustration among youth,” ILO youth employment specialist and author of the report Sara Elder said, adding that it has, in turn, can culminate in political unrest and external migration.

The findings are based on school-to-work surveys carried out in 2012-13 among young people in five countries – Nepal, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Samoa and Viet Nam – under the ILO’s Work4Youth (W4Y) Project – a global partnership between the ILO and The MasterCard Foundation.

The countries’ average youth unemployment rate was 14.2 per cent, ranging from 3.8 per cent in Cambodia to 28.9 per cent in Nepal. The unemployment rate of young women exceeded that of their male counterparts in all five countries; the average female youth unemployment rate was 19.9 per cent, compared to the male rate of 11.9 per cent.

In all five countries young men were more likely to find stable, regular employment and to earn higher wages compared to young women.

Likewise, the report also found close links between education and employment. One concern identified is that educational attainment in the region remains comparatively low, despite recent progress.

The report is also intended to assist governments to place youth employment at the heart of their political agendas and to provide information for the design and monitoring of effective policy responses. The report has recommended to help more young people find quality jobs. It proposed a range of government actions, including designing macroeconomic policies to promote job growth, ensuring educational access for all, preventing young people leaving education early, and strengthening support for informal enterprises.

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