The Effects Of High Unemployment On Namibia - 1450 Words

Causes of high unemployment in Namibia The details below analyze the unemployment rate in Namibia and it reveals that jobless growth appears to be norm in the country with unemployment rate increasing even in the time of high economic growth as measured by GDP (gross domestic product). This shows that unemployment in Namibia does not react to cyclical changes in the level of economic activities. There are some key factors that contribute to high unemployment rate in Namibia. Population Growth Changing Demographics Figure 3 Source: Own compilation based on data obtained from the National Bureau of statistics (Namibia statistics agency) and World Bank (2015). (Strict unemployment) Figure 3 shows that population has been increasing†¦show more content†¦Figure 4 above shows that youth unemployment has been high in Namibia since 1991 that records the level of youth unemployment rate of 35.2% from 19% of total unemployment. Youth unemployment rate reported all time low in 1994 with 32% from 19.4% of total unemployment and all time high in 2008 with total youth unemployment rate of 59.9% from 37.6% of total unemployment the cause of this high rate in 2008 was caused by the global economic crises and the closing down of mining operations and some manufacturing industry in the country. The fast growing of total youth population in Namibia is due the improvement of health conditions, slow down of mortality rate and fertility rate. Increases in Female Labor Force Participation Over the previous years, Namibia experienced an increase in the labor force participation of women. Especially between 1997 to 2008 women in labor forces participation increases with 10.7%, compared to men’s labor forces participation which increases with 6.5% in the same period, which is 4.2% less than women labor force participation growth as shown in figure 5. This development reflects a change in society and is caused by factors such as, women high level of education attainment, women independence, affirmative action laws, just to mention few. This shows that as more and more women enter the labor market, and finding no job opportunities many of them enters the mass of unemployed Namibians. Figure 5 Source: