Despite all the hullaballoo surrounding Pakistan’s unemployment rate, which stood at approximately 7% in the year 2018-19 as per the Labour Force Survey, a closer examination by demographer and pro-vice-chancellor at the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Dr Durre Nayab, revealed distressing details.
Firstly, that a mere 45% of individuals of working-age population were formally considered part of the labour force. This could mean that they were neither studying nor actively in search of employment at the time of the study. For females, this was especially pronounced — with a whopping 79% excluded from the sample, suggesting strong sociocultural impediments to their involvement.
Even more alarming, the unemployment rates of university graduates aged 15-29 stood at 31.2% — suggesting the failure of educational institutions to create a bridge between their students and the job market. This is largely due to a combination of poor skillsets (hard and soft) and a dearth of opportunities. Furthermore, 33.8% of individuals in the same age bracket were found to be neither employed nor enrolled — a grouping labelled ‘disconnected’ (from the system) by Dr Nayab. From among these, the situation for females was particularly disheartening, with 59.7% falling into the category.
It was also discovered that a substantial portion of work in Pakistan goes unpaid. For males, the rate is 13%; for females, a dismal 57%. Aggregated, this amounts to 23% of all labour — almost 1 in...
Read Full Story: https://tribune.com.pk/story/2342140/the-kids-arent-alright
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