90pc youth employed in informal sector: study
Nearly 90 percent of the youth population in Bangladesh are employed in the informal sector, depicting the daunting task the country faces in creating formal jobs for the people aged 15 to 29, according to a study.
Reducing the youth’s dependence on informal jobs is a very challenging task, so adequate budget is essential to overcome the problem, it said.
The study – Investing on Young People: What does the Budget reflect? – was carried out by ActionAid Bangladesh in 2019 and its findings were shared at a discussion in Economic Reporters’ Forum (ERF) of Dhaka yesterday.
When the economy is set to grow at more than 8 percent, more jobs should be generated in the formal sector, the report said. The informal sector accounts for 85.10 percent of the employment.
Currently, 22 ministries are involved in youth-related issues. But the budgetary allocation for the 22 ministries fell by 21.16 percent to Tk 137,000 crore in the current fiscal year from Tk 166,000 crore a year ago.
There are more than 2 crore employed young people in Bangladesh, representing 33.5 percent of the workforce. Overall, 79.6 percent of the unemployed are youths.
The report said education has a direct relationship with the development of young people. Though the budgetary allocation for education has increased nearly five times since 2009-10, the amount in percentage of the total budget shows little change: the education budget was 12.6 percent of the total budget in 2009-10 and it rose to 14.6 percent in the current fiscal year.
The stagnant budgetary allocation for education has become a matter of concern for youth development, said the research.
A small-scale survey conducted jointly by ActionAid Bangladesh and the ERF in 2019 found that the youth know little about budget and are even less interested about the national budget and have little expectation from it.
Twenty-six percent of the respondents do not know when the country’s national budget is announced, while 33 percent did not listen to the finance minister’s budget speech in television in the last three years.
The respondents expect the government to put priority on education, health and market stability in the upcoming budget.
The budgetary allocation for the education sector should go up to 20 percent for the sustainable growth of the economy. More focus is essential on skill development and rigorous training for the youth, the report said.
It said adequate allocation is needed to implement the government’s election manifesto, which pledged cutting unemployment to 12 percent by way of creating 1.5 crore new jobs by 2023.
Speaking at the event, Rubana Huq, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, emphasised investing on the mental health of the youth.
“A large portion of the younger population seems to have low confidence, so the government should invest to motivate them.”
She said the youth has creativity but it is not being used.
Mustafa K Mujeri, executive director of the Institute for Inclusive Finance and Development, said the government would have to invest in an integrated manner for youth development.
Farah Kabir, country director of ActionAid Bangladesh, moderated the discussion.
