The Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, and Cambridge Global Challenges Strategic Research Initiative hosted a hybrid talk (in person and on zoom) with Dr. Imran Matin, Executive Director, BRAC Institute of Governance and Development, BRAC University, Bangladesh on, “Youth and work in COVID times: Bangladesh case”.
According to the study, despite a third of the population in Bangladesh belonging to the youth (15-35), nearly 30 percent of them are not in education, employment or training (NEET). Even the unemployment rate among youth (15-29) is more than twice as high as the general population. This has also led to a higher gender disparity among the youth, as 85 percent of NEET are women. Under BRAC’s Strategic Partner Agreement (SPA), an in-person survey was conducted with a sample of 5553 youth aged between 18-35 years. The occupational distribution data from the survey indicates that during COVID rural women got involved in more income generating activities, primarily in the agriculture sector. Moreover, except for rural young women, income of everyone declined, among which the sharpest decline can be observed for urban women. However, actual income in January 2021 is much lower than the predicted income, even for rural young women. In terms of skill acquisition assessment, phone and social media survey was conducted. In the phone survey, 4.9 percent of respondents took some form of new training in the past year whereas in the social media survey 27 percent took new training. Furthermore, in the phone survey, 46 percent of respondents expressed the need for new job training whereas in the social media survey the percentage is 85. This implies the widening of existing skill gaps among Bangladeshi youth. The survey also asked its respondents about their future expectations of getting into income generating activities after COVID. Young women, students and people already involved in some jobs were reported low in confidence. The study also assessed mental wellbeing of youths using the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale and found young men are coping better than women in terms of depression/anxiety.
The study highlighted three key takeaways: i) risk of widening socio-economic gap in skills acquisition ii) urban young women are more vulnerable to labour market shock of COVID iii) gendered approach to mental wellbeing, norms and aspiration need to be integrated as a part of recovery intervention.
The Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, and Cambridge Global Challenges Strategic Research Initiative hosted a hybrid talk (in person and on zoom) with Dr. Imran Matin, Executive Director, BRAC Institute of Governance and Development, BRAC University, Bangladesh on, “Youth and work in COVID times: Bangladesh case”.
According to the study, despite a third of the population in Bangladesh belonging to the youth (15-35), nearly 30 percent of them are not in education, employment or training (NEET). Even the unemployment rate among youth (15-29) is more than twice as high as the general population. This has also led to a higher gender disparity among the youth, as 85 percent of NEET are women. Under BRAC’s Strategic Partner Agreement (SPA), an in-person survey was conducted with a sample of 5553 youth aged between 18-35 years. The occupational distribution data from the survey indicates that during COVID rural women got involved in more income generating activities, primarily in the agriculture sector. Moreover, except for rural young women, income of everyone declined, among which the sharpest decline can be observed for urban women. However, actual income in January 2021 is much lower than the predicted income, even for rural young women. In terms of skill acquisition assessment, phone and social media survey was conducted. In the phone survey, 4.9 percent of respondents took some form of new training in the past year whereas in the social media survey 27 percent took new training. Furthermore, in the phone survey, 46 percent of respondents expressed the need for new job training whereas in the social media survey the percentage is 85. This implies the widening of existing skill gaps among Bangladeshi youth. The survey also asked its respondents about their future expectations of getting into income generating activities after COVID. Young women, students and people already involved in some jobs were reported low in confidence. The study also assessed mental wellbeing of youths using the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale and found young men are coping better than women in terms of depression/anxiety.
The study highlighted three key takeaways: i) risk of widening socio-economic gap in skills acquisition ii) urban young women are more vulnerable to labour market shock of COVID iii) gendered approach to mental wellbeing, norms and aspiration need to be integrated as a part of recovery intervention.
