A new opinion study by Gallup and Silatech – “Voices of Young Arabs” -measures young Arabs’ career aspirations, life expectations and thoughts on employment in their own countries. The expansive index covers 20 countries and compares countries within regions (Gulf, Levant, Maghreb, etc.) as well as inter-regionally. In addition to outlining the challenges of job creation and ‘waithood,’ the report identifies three factors youth consider to be the greatest obstacles to employment: the necessity of personal connections (wasta), inadequate education systems that don’t offer practical job training; and the lack of awareness of new employment initiatives.
One of the strengths of the report lays in its approach of complementing employment statistics with a consideration of socio-cultural variables. Young Arabs’ (15-29) views on family and faith, women’s rights, and priorities and norms are harnessed to provide a context in which other data on employment preferences can be used to inform development policy. For instance, many youth answered that having an “enriched spiritual life” and “starting a family” were top priorities, with the quality of work they do coming third. This was supported with data showing few Arab youth have ever “refused a job when it was offered to them.”
The study’s focus on youth attitudes towards entrepreneurship is also noteworthy and leads to a much larger debate. The findings carefully state that, “Arab youth’s attitudes toward entrepreneurs are complex.” Although “solid majorities” of Arab youth believe entrepreneurship leads to job creation, respondents still cite serious challenges to starting a business or finding employment. For example, in the Maghreb, over 80 percent of Moroccans polled say “the area where they live is a good place for entrepreneurs starting a new business.” Yet, only 25 percent said it was easy to obtain a loan to start a business. According to the findings, similarly low numbers of Maghreb youth “feel that their government makes paperwork and permits easy enough for potential entrepreneurs.”
These discrepancies beg a much larger set of questions that – unfortunately -go unanswered in the study. First and foremost is the concept of entrepreneurship itself. The phrase “entrepreneurship” is used in only two questions and is not explicitly defined. Is an entrepreneur someone who legally registers a start-up company after obtaining a loan from a bank? Or, is an entrepreneur someone who sells Kleenex boxes at an intersection? These differences matter when one considers the ramifications for the formal vs. informal sectors and the types of employment opportunities available not just to Arab youth, but youth all over the world to young people who encounter similar challenges in finding a job.
The study shows that “solid majorities” of Arab youth believe that entrepreneurship creates jobs – but what kind of jobs is not clear. The Arab median for respondents who say that their communities are conducive to entrepreneurial start-ups is at 65 percent – but what kinds of start-ups? With youth in some of these countries also reporting high levels of distrust with public administration and difficulty obtaining licenses and bank loans, one gets the impression that when Arab youth think about starting a career, more and more, the first thing that comes to mind is something informal outside legal and financial regulation and oftentimes precarious and illicit. This is supported by the strong correlation between countries where youth report that corruption is the most widespread with those where youth are most likely to favor self-employment (such as Algeria and Morocco).
It is estimated that close to 40 percent of Moroccan and Algerian economies are informal. Just like many of their neighbors, both countries also have robust and dynamic informal markets, or souks, which rival any glamorous commercial shopping center in Casablanca or Algiers. Make no mistake, informal economies do offer myriad opportunities for young entrepreneurs to thrive, but is selling cell phone charges or pirated DVDs really sustainable? Are these jobs that Arab youth should aspire to in order to start or support a family? What are the effects of informal employment on waithood? Does declaring a “hearty entrepreneurial spirit” among Arab youth not relieve pressure from corrupt governments to make starting a business in their own countries easier?
This study provides great insights into how Arab youth perceive their future in the job market. However, including a discussion of the consequences of informal sector employment on most of the variables discussed in this survey would offer a new range of policy recommendations.
Published Date: July 10, 2009