Youth employment in Ghana: economic and social development policies perspective

Abstract

PurposeCreating employment opportunities for the youth remains a dilemma for policymakers. In many cases, policies and programmes to tackle youth unemployment have produced little results, because such initiatives have failed to consider some fundamental inputs. In Ghana, youth unemployment rate has doubled or more than doubled the national average unemployment rate in recent years. The current study, therefore, examines how policies in the past two decades have affected youth unemployment rate and other development outcomes.Design/methodology/approachThe study reviewed national economic development policy documents from 1996 to 2017 and other relevant policies aimed at creating employment opportunities for the youth, applying the content analysis procedure. Four main policy documents were reviewed in this regard. Data from secondary sources including International Labour Organisation (ILO), World Bank (WB), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) were analysed to examine the trends in youth unemployment rate, human development index and GDP growth rate in Ghana over the years. There were also formal and informal consultations with youth and development practitioners.FindingsThe results of the study show that policies that promote general growth in the economy reduce youth unemployment, while continuation of existing youth programmes, expansion, as well as addition of new ones by new governments reduces youth unemployment rate. In particular, GDP growth and youth unemployment rate trend in opposite direction; periods of increased growth have reduced youth unemployment rate and vice versa. The period of Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda I & II witnessed better reduction (5.7%) in youth unemployment rate than any of the policy periods. This was not sustained, and despite the current youth employment initiatives, unemployment among young people still remained higher than the national average.Research limitations/implicationsThe study provides relevant information on how development policies and programmes affect youth unemployment rate over time. In as much as it is not the interest of the study, the study stops short of empirical estimation to determine the level of GDP growth rate that can reduce a particular level of youth unemployment, which is a case for further research. Nevertheless, the outcome of the study reflects the data and methodology used.Originality/valueTo the best of the knowledge of the authors, this is a first study in Ghana that has attempted to directly link development outcomes such as youth unemployment to national economic development policies, although there are studies that have analysed the policy gaps and implementation challenges. This paper, therefore, bridges the knowledge of how development policies affect youth employment opportunities, particularly for Ghana.

A bibliometric study of reference literature on youth unemployment

“…The key area of interest explored could be factors influencing youth unemployment such as duration dependence (Flek et al , 2015; Cockx and Picchio, 2013; Raaum, 2009; García-Pérez and Muñoz-Bullón, 2005), skills (Cyron and Mehrotra, 2022; Groh et al , 2016), training (Šileika, 2004; Upward, 2002), income distribution (De Fraja et al , 2021; Singh et al , 2020), labour market (Liotti, 2022; Ylistö and Husu, 2021; Ranchhod and Daniels, 2021; Bradley and Crouchley, 2020), policies (Jumpah, 2020; Focacci, 2020), wage determination (Gabriel and Schmitz, 2020; Vasilescu and Begu, 2019), minimum wage (Fialová and Mysíková, 2021; Marimpi and Koning, 2018), labour supply (Holford, 2020; McTier and McGregor, 2018), education (Cyron and Mehrotra, 2022; Juárez et al , 2022; Krahn et al , 2015; Odoardi, 2020; Pompei and Selezneva, 2021; Meyer and Mncayi, 2021) and youth entrepreneurship (Munyuki and Jonah, 2021; Justina and Emmanuel, 2020; Jumpah, 2020; Ubogu, 2020).…”

Social support during COVID-19: Exploring the psychometric properties of the PSS-JSAS and its relationship with job search activities

“…First, unemployment in youth is a primary concern for India. It creates emotional, mental, and financial insecurities among youth [ 49 , 50 ]. Several studies have concluded that unemployment leads to anxiety, stress, depression, and psychological trauma.…”

Impact of Technology on Macro-Level Employment and the Workforce: What are the Implications for Job Creation and Job Destruction in Ghana?

“…In recent years, the remarkable drop in the absolute number of formal workers in the Ghanaian economy has been a source of controversy and public concern. The long-term employment relationship is an important feature of many developing countries as an estimated 30% to 70% of the labour force in developing countries is employed in informal jobs (Bosch & Esteban-Pretel, 2012;Jumpah et al, 2020). As indicated by Liu (2018), the dynamics of the labour market are associated with the creation of new jobs and the destruction of old ones at the firm level.…”