Young women in the labor market. why are they more vulnerable?

287,000 young people in Armenia are economically inactive,

– 66% of youth who do not study and do not work are women…

– Four out of 10 young people are replenishing their economically inactive workforce.

– 50% of young people’s job does not correspond to their educational level: the latter is higher,

– Only 4 percent of young people looking for a job use state and 5 percent of non-state employment assistance programs,

– Every 6th youth is unemployed,

– 1 out of 5 young hired workers works in the shade.

This and many other issues facing young people in the job market are evidenced by the 2018 Youth-Centered and Gender-Sensitive Research in Armenia conducted by Media Model LLC within the framework of the EU-funded project Youth for Future Thoughts (2018-2020) ordered by Save the Children International representative office in Armenia.

4 out of 10 young people in Armenia are economically inactive.

About 33% of economically inactive respondents did not seek work because they were caring for a family member, child, or were on child care leave. Gender disruption is evident here, as only female respondents have responded. Most likely, they are young mothers who not only do not have the opportunity to take their children to preschool or care, but also those whose family members simply do not allow them to work. Generally, the offspring of young women are at risk of being out of work or being involved in vulnerable and low-quality jobs, not because of a lack of education, but in the role of a caregiver in the family because of their expectations.

According to the survey, young women are economically inactive due to more family responsibilities, childcare or housework (47.5%) than men (3.7%).

The authors of the study argue that there is a problem of ineffective management of education as society spends more resources on educating women but does not permit them access to the labor market, excluding women from economically active labor resources. As a result, although young women are more likely to receive higher education than men, they are less likely to become part of an active labor market and have employment as both a hired and a non-hired worker.

Among the economically inactive youth who say they do not need work, women make up the majority (65.2%). This again proves the need to empower women by encouraging their transition from education to the labor market, otherwise there is a waste of educational resources.

According to surveys, two out of 5 unemployed people have been looking for work for more than a year. The larger the place of permanent residence of respondents, the higher the average number of applications and rejections for work.

Although unemployed youth see the main reasons for their rejections on the demand side of the labor market, one quarter of them admit that they do not have the necessary skills to get a job.

Unemployed youth were asked to set a minimum monthly wage below which the conditions would not be acceptable to them. For the sample, this threshold is 130,000 AMD, slightly higher for urban areas – 132,000 AMD compared to rural areas where the threshold is 128,000 AMD.

Recall that according to the official statistics for 2018, the minimum monthly salary in Armenia was 55,000 AMD ($ 113), while the average monthly salary was about 170,000 AMD (352 USD). Therefore, it can be concluded that the young men and women interviewed are looking for work that is twice the minimum wage and close to the average wage.

In terms of employment status, young women are at a disadvantage; they find it more difficult to find a job than men and face a substantial difference in pay.

Most of the respondents have applied for various jobs more than 4 times during their job search. The average number of failed attempts per sample is 2.8 times, with women less successful than men.