Maghreb jobless rate highest for women, youth

2010-02-04

Job creation continues to be a challenge for the Maghreb, and female workers and young people suffer the most from joblessness.

By Siham Ali for Magharebia in Rabat – 04/02/10

[Abdelhak Senna/AFP/Getty Images] Unemployment is a huge concern for people throughout the Maghreb, particularly for youth and women.

Young people in all Maghreb economies suffer from high unemployment rates, and women are more prone than men to be jobless, an expert on the region's labour market told participants in a recent Rabat seminar.

"The proportion of young people under 30 who are unemployed has reached 69% in Morocco, 72% in Tunisia and 75% in Algeria," Carnegie Middle East Centre economist Dr. Lahcen Achy said at the January 28th-29th seminar on the Maghreb labour market.

Samira Kacimi, a sociologist, told Magharebia that the unemployment rate among Moroccan youth stems from a high level of education and unrealistic job expectations. She also said that being supported by their family members might impede young people from accepting decent job offers.

"Relatives look after their young unemployed [family members]," she said. "So the young people don't feel any urgency about working to meet their needs."

Unemployment rates follow similar patterns in Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria, Achy said at the seminar, which was co-hosted by the Circle of Young Economists and the Carnegie Middle East Centre.

In Morocco, 31.8% of youth under the age of 24 are unemployed. Tunisian youth between 20 and 24 face a 31% unemployment rate, while 25% of those between the ages of 25 and 29 are jobless. Algerian youth under 24 grapple with a jobless rate of 23%. Throughout the Maghreb, urban areas report a 27.5% rate of youth unemployment.

The period of unemployment among Maghreb youth is also longer, lasting between two and three years in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, said the economist. Although the informal sector offers the most job opportunities, workers have no benefits.

He also said that unemployment rates among young people tend to rise with their level of education, a situation he said was "paradoxical" and "contradicts what has been seen internationally, where education tends to favour integration into the labour market".

Gender also has an impact on unemployment rates. Focusing on Morocco, Achy noted that 20.3% of women were unemployed, compared to only 13.1% of men.

He attributed this difference to the importance of gender roles in the family. "Men in Maghreb countries who need to support families are not selective when it comes to work, provided that they have an income, unlike women who will turn down work unless they can find a decent job."

Moroccan Minister for Employment and Vocational Training Jamal Rhmani said the Maghreb must set challenging targets for job creation, social security and stamping out poverty.

"Countries in the region must create 8 million more jobs between 2010 and 2020 for new arrivals in the labour market," Rhmani told seminar participants. In a press release last month, he said his ministry was committed to creating jobs by offering vocational training and supporting young entrepreneurs.

Economist Ahmed Mouftakir said that the results of the research presented at the seminar required local officials to work together to create jobs.

"Economic co-operation across the Maghreb has yet to live up to our aspirations," he told Magharebia. "It must increase to promote the economy of each country and thus to resolve a large part of the problem concerning work."