Preamble
The World Bank in partnership with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) introduced the Covid-19 National Longitudinal Phone Survey (NLPS) to assess the socioeconomic impact of covid-19 pandemic on Nigerian households on monthly basis. The first round of the survey exercise began April 2020 during the national lockdown. While previous rounds of NLPS focused on households generally, the 12th round was unique in the sense that it specifically focused on Nigerian youth between 15 and 25 years with aim of determining their main current activity, income source, education, and job aspirations. A total of 1,234 households with youths (15-25) were selected for the phone interview, however, 841 households were fully interviewed in the 12th round.
This brief summarizes the 12th round NLPS and drew out implications for policy intervention.
Main Current Activities
Out of the 841 youths sampled, about 52% were attending school or training, 35 percent were working, and 13 percent were doing nothing. Based on location distribution, share of youth attending school or training in urban areas (60.5%) was higher than in rural areas (48.8%) while the share of youth already working was lower in urban area (32.8%) compared to rural area (36.0%). This underscores why youth in rural areas started work (at average age of 14 years 6 months), earlier than their urban counterparts (at average of 17 years 6 months). The number of youths not attending school/training nor working in rural areas doubles those in urban areas.
Source of Income
Many Nigerian youths depend on regular jobs or family support to meet basic needs of lives. These two sources accounted for 83% of total income sources. Sources of income among youth vary by gender and household income. While most young males rely on their job for livelihood, the story is different for young females with half of them relying on family support for life sustenance. The proportion of youth depending on family support for life sustenance was significantly higher among the richest households (50%) compared to poorest households (20%).
EDUCATIONAL ASPIRATONS & CONSTRAINTS
Education aspirations of young person differ based on their current educational level and family background. Majority of those in secondary school intend to further their education. Similarly, many of those at tertiary level would like to start work, while other expressed intention to secure post-graduate admission or establish an enterprise. Asked about the level of education they would like to complete, about 61% from the poorest households signified intention to complete university education but cited lack of money as the major limitation. On the other hand, majority from richest households considered postgraduate studies as their ideal level of education.
JOB ASPIRATIONS
The job aspirations of Nigerian youth reflect realities in job market. 22% of the participants desire to be an entrepreneur while another 23% are indecisive about their dream job. Young persons both in poorest and richest households signified intention to start a business as against chasing white-collar jobs. Furthermore, fewer youth are optimistic about their dream job (35%). Breaking this further, the ratio of youth who are confident about achieving their career aspiration is significantly higher among rich households (51%) compared to poor households (19%).
POLICY IMPLICATIONS
- Youth in rural areas face limited access to educational opportunities compared to their urban counterparts. As such they either work or stay idle, reflecting the disappointing state of human capital development in rural areas. There is need for government at national and sub-national level to give human capital development the priority it truly deserves, especially in rural communities.
- The fact that majority of youths from the poorest households rely on regular jobs and most youths from the richest households depend on parental support highlights how unevenly income is distributed between the rich and less privileged. Income inequality has increased globally in recent decades, but at different speeds across regions including sub-Saharan Africa. These widening disparities require sound policies to empower low-income earners, and promote economic inclusion irrespective of tribe, gender, or background.
- Access to educational opportunities has continued to pose a challenge to the education aspirations of young persons from low-income households. This has forced several youths in low-income household to drop out of school due to lack of money. It is not surprising as Nigeria is reported to have the highest out-of-school children globally according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). As such, there is need for government to intensify intervention by way of subsidy to improve access to education at primary, secondary and tertiary level. Government could as well partner with private sectors and international development agencies to design more scholarship programs for bright Nigerian youths from low-income class.
- The difficulties faced by job seekers in the labour market seems to propel most youths to settle for entrepreneurship to avoid being frustrated in the job market. As such, entrepreneurial education should be encouraged in schools. Young people should be exposed to entrepreneurship as early as possible.
- Many young people seem to have lost confidence in Nigeria as they believe they cannot achieve their goals in the country. Government at all levels need to be intentional about creating opportunities for the youthful population to keep them productively engaged.
RESEARCH AND POLICY, LSETF
