EDUCATED YOUTH EXTREMITY : PAKISTAN REPORTS

 

PAKISTAN : The report questions why urban areas aren't providing the opportunities they should.

Pakistan : Over 31% of Pakistan's educated youth is currently unemployed, revealed a report on the employment situation released by the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics [PIDE] on Sunday.

Out of these 31 percent, 51% are females while 16 percent are males, with many of them possessing degrees. Nearly 60 percent of Pakistan's population is less than 30 years old.

The report stated that the current unemployment rate of 6.9 percent is considered to be comfortable and frequently makes headlines. Far more females and those living in urban areas are unemployed than their male and rural counterparts, it added.

PIDE also revealed that a surprisingly large part of the working-age group is not even part of the labour force. These people are either discouraged workers or have other means of income to support them, the report stated.

It also stated that despite pronouncements and policy initiatives, the female labour force participation rate [LFPR] remains shockingly low.

Despite all the talk about the youth bulge and reaping the demographic dividend, the unemployment rate is the highest for the young new entrants in the labour force, it further stated, adding that it takes a decade or more for youth to be employed.

The report also revealed that education is considered a panacea and the key to all opportunities, but ''reality shows it otherwise''.

PIDE revealed that going by the LFS, graduate unemployment is very high. Over 31% of the youth with degrees , including professional ones, are unemployed with females at 51 percent and males at 16 percent, it stated.

Rural graduate unemployment is much higher than urban, begging the question of mobility, it added.

The report further stated that services remain the largest employer with retail and wholesale trade the largest segment in the urban areas, while agriculture, including cultivation and livestock, continues to employ the majority in rural Pakistan.

Surprisingly, construction employs about 8 percent of the labour force in both urban and rural areas, perhaps reflecting the harsh regulatory and zoning laws in urban areas, PIDE highlighted.

According to the report, public employment provides opportunities for better-paid jobs in Pakistan. The well known preference for government jobs, therefore, appears justified as the monthly wage in government shows up to be significantly higher than private-sector jobs, it stated.

The World Students Society thanks both The Express Tribune and APP.