Young Adults and Labor Markets in Africa

Oriana Bandiera, Ahmed Elsayed, Andrea Smurra and Celine Zipfel

Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2022, vol. 36, issue 1, 81-100

Abstract: Every year, millions of young adults join the labor market in Africa. This paper harmonizes surveys and censuses from 68 low- and middle-income countries to compare their job prospects to those of their counterparts in other low-income regions. We show that employment rates are similar at similar levels of development but that young adults in Africa are less likely to have a salaried job, especially when the size of their cohort is large. Building on existing evidence on the impacts of interventions targeting both the demand and supply sides of the labor market, we discuss policy priorities for boosting the growth of salaried job creation in the region.

JEL-codes: D31 J13 J22 J23 J31 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Related works:
Working Paper: Young adults and labor markets in Africa (2022)
Working Paper: Young Adults and Labor Markets in Africa (2021)
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DOI: 10.1257/jep.36.1.81

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