Demographic and Socio-economic Determinants of Youth Unemployment in Debere Birhan Town, North Showa c Zone, Amhara National Regional State
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Date
2011-05
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
A high level of youth unemployment is one of the critical socio-economic problems facing
Ethiopia. The intensity of the problem is high in urban areas in general, Debere Birhan in
particular where youth face serious difficulty in getting employment. Various stud ies indicate
the level of youth unemployment in Debere Birhan. However, little is known about the
factors exacerbating youth unemployment in the study area. In light of this problem, this
study is conducted with an objective of assessing the demographic and socio-economic
determinants of youth unemployment. Primary data collected from 600 youths randomly
selected from the three kebeles of Debere Birhan town, North Showa Zone, Amhara National
Regional State, are used for the study. Simple frequenc ies, cross tabulation and binary
logi stic regression model were used to analyze the data. Among all the respondents, 39.7
percent were found unemployed, while 60.3 percent were employed at the time of the study.
The bi variate ana lysis showed that females and migrants were found unemployed. Youth
who had secondary and below educational level, weak social network, inaccessible to
business advisory services, and those who prefer paid employment were also found
unemployed in the tOWll. The multivariate analysis showed that sex, migration, education,
social network, job preferences and access to business advisory services significantly
determine youth unemployment in Debere Birhan town. Household income, father education,
and marital status were found insignificantly related to youth unemployment. Based on the
findings of the study: encourage youth to improve their education, empower females and
increase their participation, encourage youth to increase their social networks, address the
problem of migrants, and improve youth attitudes towards jobs in the formal sectors were
suggested as recommendations.
Key Words: Youth, Employed, Unemployed.
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Keywords
Youth, Employed, Unemployed