Youth employment and skills development in the Gambia
Despite substantial improvements in access to basic education and steady economic growth, The Gambia still faces considerable challenges in respect to reducing poverty. As the result of its narrow economic base and its reduced internal market, the country will continue to rely on the productivity of its citizens to reverse the cycle that keeps families in poverty generation after generation. Poverty reduction is a complex equation that involves improvements in job creation, especially for high-skilled and productive employment, as well as improvements in human capital levels to ensure that citizens are able to take advantage of employment opportunities. Currently, however, low human capital levels greatly limit the productivity and employment outcomes of the population, as evidenced by the fact that a majority continues to work in subsistence agriculture, especially in rural areas. Nearly 60 percent of the poor in The Gambia are under the age of 20 years. Youth face significant challenges with respect to employment outcomes, such as a very difficult transition from school to work and very low levels of education and training. In terms of education levels, a significant proportion of young people (especially in rural areas) leave school early, in part due to what are perceived to be low returns on education. Many of those who do receive high quality education and training choose to emigrate. Overall, young workers are employed in jobs of low quality and high levels of informality. The study assessed the impact of the following factors on youth's time use: education level, gender, local labor supply and demand, and place of residence. From the analysis, it was noted that the probability of being employed decreases as the level of human capital increases. In fact, uneducated youth display the highest probability of being employed