Determinants of Youth Activities in Pakistan

Rizwan Ahmad and Ijaz Hussain

Abstract

This paper analyzes the youth labour market activities in Pakistan. Based on micro data of Labour Force Survey (2006-07), the strength of analysis presented in the paper is twofold. First, it highlights some issues of youth in labour market, their attitude towards work and education in Pakistan and second, the econometric analysis investigates the supply side determinants of youth activities in Pakistan. Our descriptive analysis shows that a substantial percentage of youth is neither in labour force nor enrolled as student which shows the wastage of human resources in the society. Moreover, higher unemployment among educated youth, poor level of education and skills, predominance of informal economy are some of the major issues of youth labour market in Pakistan. Results of multinomial logit model show that being a female reduces the chances of full time work and full time students in Pakistan. In general, young people with educated parents are more likely to enroll in education, while those whose parents are working in agriculture or informal sector are more likely to be full time workers. Similarly, responsibilities within household as a head or having more number of siblings also increase the economic participation of youth.