Youth Exclusion
Encyclopedia
Youth Exclusion is a form of social exclusion
in which youth are situated at a social disadvantage in joining institutions and organizations in their societies. Youth exclusion is context specific, meaning that, for example, “applying the concept of social exclusion to the Middle Eastern and North African countries calls for analysis of what it means to be Egyptian, Moroccan, Iranian, or Syrian, to be a Muslim, an Arab, and so on.”. It is also relational in that social exclusion contains two parties, the excluders and excluded. Pertaining to youth exclusion, the excluders are often older generations who may feel that they risk their position in society by providing greater access of services and institutions to youth. It is also multi-dimensional, including not only poverty but “with other forms of social disadvantage or group memberships that are related to economic outcomes.”
The costs of youth exclusion may be measured in terms of the costs of aggregate components, including factors like youth unemployment and teen pregnancy, or a single aspect, such as youth crime or drug use.
and North Africa
(MENA
), youth exclusion has several dimensions. As in other regions, notably Europe
, youth unemployment is high, with a regional average of 25% unemployment among 15- to 24-year-olds, which reaches as high as 37% in Morocco
and up to 73% in Syria
.. There is also a significant level of labor market segmentation
related to economic restructuring and insider-outsider issues;
As a result of youth unemployment, young people have a tendency of extending their education and delaying marriage and family formation. Like Europe, MENA
has seen its youth delay leaving the home, getting married, and beginning families.
Consequences of youth exclusion in MENA
have included young people entering waithood
, a period during which they simply wait for their lives to begin, most notably by queuing for long periods of unemployment during which they live with parents and are financially unable to pursue marriage or home ownership. While delayed marriage is a trend seen in many societies, adaptations vary, such that it is normal in the United States and Europe for young unmarried couples to cohabitate while in MENA, such an arrangement is unacceptable. Instead, an increasing number of youths are engaging in nikah urfi
, temporary marriages., which offer little security to the wife and any subsequent offspring. The psychological impact is also considerable, with unemployment leading to depression and social isolation, often with physical manifestations. There is considerable concern in the international community that these isolated youths are marketed to by extremist groups such as Al-Qaeda
, who prey upon their sense of social exclusion and hopelessness.
Social exclusion
Social exclusion is a concept used in many parts of the world to characterise contemporary forms of social disadvantage. Dr. Lynn Todman, director of the Institute on Social Exclusion at the Adler School of Professional Psychology, suggests that social exclusion refers to processes in which...
in which youth are situated at a social disadvantage in joining institutions and organizations in their societies. Youth exclusion is context specific, meaning that, for example, “applying the concept of social exclusion to the Middle Eastern and North African countries calls for analysis of what it means to be Egyptian, Moroccan, Iranian, or Syrian, to be a Muslim, an Arab, and so on.”. It is also relational in that social exclusion contains two parties, the excluders and excluded. Pertaining to youth exclusion, the excluders are often older generations who may feel that they risk their position in society by providing greater access of services and institutions to youth. It is also multi-dimensional, including not only poverty but “with other forms of social disadvantage or group memberships that are related to economic outcomes.”
The costs of youth exclusion may be measured in terms of the costs of aggregate components, including factors like youth unemployment and teen pregnancy, or a single aspect, such as youth crime or drug use.
Regional Youth Exclusion
In the Middle EastMiddle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
and North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
(MENA
MENA
The term MENA, for "Middle East and North Africa", is an acronym often used in academic, military planning and business writing.The term covers an extensive region, extending from Morocco to Iran, including the majority of both the Middle Eastern and Maghreb countries...
), youth exclusion has several dimensions. As in other regions, notably Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, youth unemployment is high, with a regional average of 25% unemployment among 15- to 24-year-olds, which reaches as high as 37% in Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
and up to 73% in Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
.. There is also a significant level of labor market segmentation
Labor market segmentation
A labor market is seen as segmented if it "consists of various sub-groups with little or no crossover capability". Segmentation can result in different groups, for example men and women, receiving different wages for the same work...
related to economic restructuring and insider-outsider issues;
“Organized insiders with seniority benefit from rents – higher wages, better benefits, and greater tenure – by monopolizing jobs and restricting access to particular sectors. Outsiders, such as youth and new labor market entrants, suffer from longer unemployment durations, skill atrophy, and declining health, as well as the social dimensions of exclusion from work.”Additionally, youth exclusion is exacerbated by gender, whether due to child-rearing needs and expectations, sex segregation, parental supervision, or other cultural or religious reasons. For example, compared to 63% of economically active 15- to 29-year-old males, only 22% of females from the same age group were economically active in Egypt in 2006.
As a result of youth unemployment, young people have a tendency of extending their education and delaying marriage and family formation. Like Europe, MENA
MENA
The term MENA, for "Middle East and North Africa", is an acronym often used in academic, military planning and business writing.The term covers an extensive region, extending from Morocco to Iran, including the majority of both the Middle Eastern and Maghreb countries...
has seen its youth delay leaving the home, getting married, and beginning families.
Consequences of youth exclusion in MENA
MENA
The term MENA, for "Middle East and North Africa", is an acronym often used in academic, military planning and business writing.The term covers an extensive region, extending from Morocco to Iran, including the majority of both the Middle Eastern and Maghreb countries...
have included young people entering waithood
Waithood
Waithood refers to the period of stagnation in the lives of young unemployed college graduates in the Middle East and North Africa region, described as "a kind of prolonged adolescence"....
, a period during which they simply wait for their lives to begin, most notably by queuing for long periods of unemployment during which they live with parents and are financially unable to pursue marriage or home ownership. While delayed marriage is a trend seen in many societies, adaptations vary, such that it is normal in the United States and Europe for young unmarried couples to cohabitate while in MENA, such an arrangement is unacceptable. Instead, an increasing number of youths are engaging in nikah urfi
Nikah urfi
Nikah 'urfi is a kind of Muslim marriage. It is similar to the Nikah ceremony. An 'urfi marriage is a marriage without an official contract. Couples repeat the words, "We got married" and pledge commitment before God. Usually a paper, stating that the two are married, is written and two witnesses...
, temporary marriages., which offer little security to the wife and any subsequent offspring. The psychological impact is also considerable, with unemployment leading to depression and social isolation, often with physical manifestations. There is considerable concern in the international community that these isolated youths are marketed to by extremist groups such as Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
, who prey upon their sense of social exclusion and hopelessness.