The
subject of unemployment is a sad story to young people around the continent of
Africa. Unemployment is universally recognized as a bad condition. While
economists and academics make convincing arguments that there is a certain
natural level of unemployment that cannot be erased and elevated. Unemployment
rates still continue to worsen by each day that passes by. This has facilitated
to a loud cry in the lives of the youths because young people are three times
more likely to be unemployed than adults and almost 73 million youth worldwide
are looking for work (Martin, Gary July 2009). The
(ILO) International Labor Organization has warned countries of a “scarred”
generation of youths facing a dangerous
mix of high unemployment, increased inactivity and precarious work in developed
countries, as well as persistently high working poverty in developing countries
(Greenhouse, Steven :2013). Unemployment as defined by the
International Labor Organization (ILO) occurs when people are without jobs and
they have actively looked for work. The unemployment rate is a measure of the
prevalence of unemployment and it is calculated as a percentage by dividing the
number of unemployed individuals by all individuals currently in the labor
force. Zimbabwe is one such country currently romancing with unemployment; in
fact the romance has resulted in unwanted pregnancy of gross economic decline
and bustard children of poverty.
Sundaram (2008) argued that closely watched
economic indicator is that the unemployment rate attracts a great deal of media
attention, especially during recessions and tough economic times. This is
evidenced in Tunisia after a youth called Buazizi who burnt himself and died
after realising that he could not stand life without employment. These are
however some serious levels that are caused by structural violence when the
government fails to provide for its citizens. Government is best when it serves
the interests of its citizens and prioritizes youth issues among other critical
elements of the economy.
According to
the Bureau of
Labour Statistics (BLS) (Hussainat, Mohammad etal :2012 ) , when the
youths are unemployed, their skills lose value , while the nation as a whole
loses its contribution to the economy in terms of the goods or services that
could have been produced. To better understand the nature of unemployment,
policymakers need information on many aspects of it, including the number of
unemployed people, the period of time for which they have been unemployed,
their skill levels, the trend in unemployment, and regional disparities in
unemployment and so on. Once these statistics have been obtained and
interpreted, policymakers can use them to make better informed decisions about
steering the economy and countering unemployment.
The situation
in Zimbabwe is characterized by hype -unemployment estimated to be above 80
percent. The youth in Zimbabwe constitute of about 67 percent, which generally
indicates that, it is youth who are most affected by unemployment. The
government as the major employer has frozen most jobs in the public service,
yet at the receiving end lies an innocent young person with the zeal to work,
develop, marry and support parents and other siblings. In some areas as case study,
such as Mbare young people have resorted to array of informal trading,
stealing, drug dealing and prostitution. Informal trading is much better as surviving
strategy but the rest in the former chain negatively affect the future of youth
in Zimbabwe. Media has been at the cape
stage reporting on graduates turning to vending, seriously, this must be a clarion call for the ruling government, if not
ashamed of such dynamics, then people
are in a serious crisis that need urgent political intervention…..(Continued: )
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