Unemployed Young Palestinians

Five years ago, an analysis of young people's lives in the Middle East was produced by the Brookings Institution. Generation in Waiting discussed how the youth bulge in the Middle East, coupled with inefficient institutions, had led to long lines of young people queuing for good jobs in the public sector, which would ultimately lead to disappointment and frustration. A year later, the Arab Spring erupted. This week, I'm continuing on with some work that I began as part of Generation in Waiting/Brooking research through an entity called, The Middle East Youth Initiative (MEYI). My chapter in Generation in Waiting (co-authored with Samia al-Botmeh) looked at the economic and social lives of young Palestinians using Palestinian labor force surveys and youth surveys. For the more recent paper, I am using a School to Work Transition Survey from the ILO to examine the transitions that young people make in their economic lives. The preliminary analysis shows that things have not gotten any better from 10 years ago. Previous generations of young Palestinians might have a median wait time of 1.5 to 2 years to find a job after finishing schooling. Today it is creeping up to 2.5 to 3 years. While the number of jobs in bustling cities like Ramallah has continued to increase, these jobs are directed towards those with high levels of skills and the right political connections. Despite a large increase in the number of Palestinians going to tertiary schooling (tripling during the 1990s), the quality of the skills being produced appears to be diminishing and the lack of access to universities in Europe and the Americas hurts chances at skill upgrading. The Arab Spring will have unexpected effects on the lives of young people throughout the Middle East. Unfortunately for Palestinians, their political situation means that their economic lives are going to continue to deteriorate.