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The survey, which goes by the name Arab Youth Survey 2020, was conducted by BCW, one of the largest communication agencies in the world. The young people surveyed are between 18 and 24 years old and are evenly distributed by sex.
Of those interviewed, 27 percent answered “yes” to the question of whether they actively tried to emigrate, while 15 percent admit that they are considering it. However, just over a third of those surveyed, 32 percent, choose the option “I would never leave my home country”.
The youth of Lebanon seems more eager to want to emigrate. 77 percent of them have considered moving abroad. Also in Libya, Yemen and Iraq, high figures are reported, well above 60 percent, for the emigration alternative.
Young people from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are the least likely to move. There, only 6 and 3 percent of those surveyed want to leave their home countries.
Young people from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are the least likely to move. There, only 6 and 3 percent of those surveyed want to leave their home countries.
Unemployment is cited as the biggest cloud of concern for young people in the Arab world. Nine out of ten young people, 87 percent, say they are concerned about unemployment. However, confidence that their respective governments can tackle unemployment is not very high. 51 percent of those surveyed do not believe that politicians can solve the problem of unemployment.
The investigation was terminated in early March, just before the COVID-19 pandemic turned into a global dilemma. However, interviewers were asked how the COVID-19 situation affected youth job opportunities. Seven in ten, 72 percent, respond that it has become more difficult to find a job since the new coronavirus spread.
And they have good reason to worry: statistics from the ILO (International Labor Organization) show that unemployment among young people in the Arab world is almost double that in the rest of the world. More than 20 percent of young people in the Arab world are left without work. These figures are probably low because they were published before the covid-19 pandemic was a fact.
More than a third of the young people surveyed claim to be in debt. This is a sharp increase compared to previous years. In the 2015 survey, 15 percent of young people were in debt. This year, that figure is 35 percent.
Another thing to worry about Young people are the high level of corruption in the societies in which they live Almost eight out of ten respondents believe that there is corruption within the governments of their countries of origin. Four out of ten think that corruption is “widespread.”
The report’s findings are apparently disappointing in many cases. But there are also bright spots. Gender equality appears to be increasing in the Arab world: two-thirds of surveyed women feel they have the same rights as men.
Contacts with the outside world have improved: eight out of ten young people in the Arab region use social media. An increasing number of young people may also consider creating one of their own. Four out of ten are considering becoming self-employed in the next few years.
