How To Strengthen Youth Entrepreneurship
Unemployment among young people is one of the world’s most pressing issues today. The World Bank estimated in 2013 that we will need 600 million new jobs in the next fifteen years merely to maintain the current global employment rates. According to the United Nations, in 2020 the worldwide unemployment rate increased by 1.1 per cent, reaching 6.5 per cent, and it currently sits at 6.2 per cent in 2022. Along with that, the number of jobless individuals around the globe grew by 33 million to a total of 220 million.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to massive job losses, where youth and women were impacted particularly heavily. Youth and women employment reached losses of 8.7% and 5.0% in 2020, respectively, compared to only 3.7 per cent for adults and 3.9 for males. Before the pandemic, youth unemployment was already three times bigger than for adults, and the situation is exacerbated in rural regions, where increased migration to cities throughout the world means a higher concentration of rural poverty.
Apart from that, the pandemic has also led to an increase in youth who are not in school or training. Technical and vocational education, as well as on-the-job training, were severely disrupted, prompting many students to drop out. Moreover, young women are more than twice as likely as young men to be jobless and not enrolled in education or training.
In this context, youth entrepreneurship offers solutions for economic development among young people. But youth startups and business initiatives are still somewhat new to global development and lack proper support. So, what are the best ways to support sustainable youth entrepreneurship?
A study on two Raleigh International youth projects in rural Nicaragua and Tanzania has offered light on how to improve programmes and achieve greater results. These are our 3 takeaways:
1. Develop financial, technical, and life skills that will be useful further than the project.
Because of a shortage of work possibilities, many young people, particularly in emerging nations, resort to entrepreneurship. However, they may not necessarily be in entrepreneurial jobs. Development programmes that include skills training that may be applied when the project is completed are more appealing to youth.
2. Take advantage of mentors and create specific targets.
Mentors, like our Anna feature, can assist young individuals in scrutinising their company strategies and concepts. They connect them to bigger networks, serve as role models, and provide examples of accomplishment. According to the literature and research on youth entrepreneurship, for mentorship to be effective, mentors and young entrepreneurs must have solid relationships based on clearly stated objectives and duties.
3. Prepare to modify your strategy for different circumstances.
Rural poverty, for example, has certain common elements, but the issues that young entrepreneurs encounter need regionally based solutions. Young people are more exposed to external changes (such as climate change, economic crises, or political and social upheavals), and their needs and goals may differ depending on their local environment. As conditions occur and grow, adaptability and flexibility might be a program’s lifeline.
Entrepreneurship education is a powerful tool to help fight social exclusion. And that’s our goal here at Edventures. By working towards enabling access to entrepreneurship for everyone through entrepreneurial education, we believe that we can help change perceptions about and real-life implications of social exclusion.
Want to learn more about how Entrepreneurship Education Can Help Fight Social Exclusion? Check our article!
That’s why we are profoundly dedicated to making sure everyone with the desire to learn, start and grow a business gets a chance to bring their ideas to life. We strive to shape a world where no idea is inhibited. If you want to know more, sign up for early access!
