Youth unemployment remains high- 2012 census

Youth unemployment remains relatively high in Guyana,although showing signs of a marginal decrease when compared to statistics taken in 2002.According to Compendium Three (3) of the 2012 Population and Housing Census issued recently by the Bureau of Statistics, an analysis of unemployed persons indicates that there is a ‘very high’ incidence of youth unemployment.
The statistical report indicates that 10,326 or 37% of the 17,571 Guyanese between the ages of 15 and 19 are unemployed. In 2002, the unemployment rate for this age group stood at 38%.
Additionally, 16.8% or 6,485 of the 32,107 persons that fell within the 20-24 age group had no jobs. Back in 2002, the percentage for this category stood at 18.1%. However, with increasing age, the unemployment rates decline, as such only 3,370 of the 31,726 Guyanese between the ages of 30 and 34 are unemployed.
In putting the statistics into context, the Bureau explained that the high incidence of unemployment among young people is nothing new in developing countries,particularly those between the ages of 15 and 24,due to the fact that many of them have no work experience.
“Unemployment levels for them therefore are usually high, and this is also evident in Guyana. The 15-19 years age-group for both sexes has unemployment levels that are almost four times as high as the 35-39 and 40-44 age groups. For the 20-24 years age-group, unemployment levels are high, but only twice as high as for the older ages,” the Bureau explained.
Overall, the unemployment rate in Guyana is approximately 12.5%, according to the census taken in 2012. According to that census, Guyana has a working-age population of 504,325,of which 279,799 persons make up the labour force, which includes the total number of persons 15 years and over who were actually employed or seeking employment.
But not everyone in the work force is making a contribution to the economic development of the country. In fact, approximately 34,964 persons living in Guyana at the time of the census were unemployed while 244,835 or 87.5% had managed to secure employment.
“Accordingly, the results reveal that 87.5 percent of persons participating in the labour force in 2012 had jobs;the others, approximately 12.5 percent were unemployed. Interestingly, using the same twelve-month timeframe for 2002 labour force data, the results also indicate that the unemployment rate in the country had remained practically unchanged during the ten-year period,” the Bureau pointed out.
It was noted that the variations of unemployment among males and females are always noticeable, but the socio-economic factors associated with these disparities are still very much unclear in Guyana. As such, while the national employment and unemployment rates remained the same over the intercensal period, there was variation in the rates for males and females.
“Of the women in the labour force in the 2012 Census, 83.3 percent were employed and 16.7 percent unemployed compared to 2002 where there was a marginal difference of 83.7 percent employed and 16.3 percent unemployed respectively. This compared with males in the labour force who had 89.2 percent employment rate and 10.8 percent unemployment rate in 2002, improving marginally to 89.4 percent employment rate and a 10.6 percent unemployment rate in 2012 census,” the Bureau explained.
Notably, two-thirds of the women in the working-age group were not in the labour force because a substantial number of them were doing ‘home duties.’
On average, 27.7 percent of the working-age population was involved in home duties, 7.6 percent attended school, 7.0 percent retired, 1.8 percent had some form of disability, hence could not work, and a combined total of 0.3 percent comprised ‘other reasons’ and ‘not stated.’
It was said that the historical variations in the principal economic activities between males and females of working age continued in 2012.
According to the statistical report, for the males who comprised 49.1 per cent of the total working-age population, 77.2 percent was recorded economically active (working or looking for a job). Of the remaining 22.8 percent who were economically inactive, 7.3 percent were still attending school, 6.9 percent were retired from active participation, 6.1 percent performed home duties and 2.1 percent was disabled.
In contrast, females comprised the greater proportion of the working age population (50.9 percent),yet only 34.6 percent was economically active and 65.4 percent economically inactive. In those inactive categories, home duties dominated and accounted for 48.6 percent, while of the remaining categories, students accounted for 8.0 percent. Approximately 7 percent of the others were retirees.
“On average for the entire country, 44.5 percent of the persons of working-age population were not engaged in any economic activity, thus implying that the national average is heavily weighted by the number of women of working-age who are still performing home duties,” the Bureau stated.
Guyana has a population of approximately 747,000 persons. However,only 504,325 are of working age.

Table 3.13: Summary of Employment and Unemployment Rates, Past 12 Months

Classified by Sex, Guyana: 2002 and 2012

Indicators 2012 2002
Both Sexes Number Rate (%) Number Rate (%)
Total population, 15 years and over 504,325 100 468,878 100
Total labor force 279,799 55.5 264,219 56.4
Employed 244,835 87.5 231,288 87.5
Unemployed 34,964 12.5 32,931 12.5
Not in labor force 224,526 44.5 189,095 40.3
Males        
Total population, 15 years and over 247583 100 230,947 100
Total labor force 191,077 77.2 182,575 79.1
Employed 170,905 89.4 162,926 89.2
Unemployed 20,172 10.6 19,649 10.8
Not in labor force 56,506 22.8 48,372 20.9
Females        
Total population, 15 years and over 256,742 100 237,931 100
Total labor force 88,722 34.6 81,644 34.3
Employed 73,930 83.3 68,362 83.7
Unemployed 14,792 16.7 13,282 16.3
Not in labor force 168,020 65.4 156,339 65.7
Source: Bureau of Statistics, Guyana: Population and Housing Census: 2002 & 2012 Results.
Note1: Unemployment Rate = (unemployed/total labour force) x 100.
Note2: ‘Others’ and ‘Not stated’ categories included in ‘Not in labour force’.

 

Table 3.2: Changes in Principal Activities of the Working-Age Population (15 Years & Over) 12 Months Prior to

the Census, Guyana: 2012

 

Principal Activites

Number changed: 2002  2012 Percentage changed: 2002  2012
Males Females Total Males Females Total
Worked 8,082 5,652 13,734 5.0 8.3 6.0
Had Work -103 -84 -187 -12.1 -26.3 -16.0
Looking for Work 2,635 3,305 5,940 16.6 30.6 22.3
Wanted Work -2,112 -1,743 -3,855 -55.4 -71.3 -61.6
Sub-total 8,502 7,130 15,632 4.7 8.7 5.9
Attended School 2,309 3,831 6,140 14.6 23.0 18.9
Home Duties 5,725 5,274 10,999 60.8 4.4 8.5
Retired 4,217 6,053 10,270 32.9 50.0 41.2
Disabled -340 -162 -502 -6.2 -3.8 -5.2
Others -97 75 -22 -9.2 18.2 -1.5
Not stated -3,680 -3,390 -7,070 -96.1 -97.4 -96.7
Sub-total 8,134 11,681 19,815 16.8 7.5 9.7
Total 16,636 18,811 35,447 7.2 7.9 7.6
Source: Table 3.1

 

 

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