Armenian youth suffering from unemployment, poverty

By AzerNews

Youth play a major role in building the future of a country but the case is different for Armenian youth as they seem unwilling to play such a role. Instead they are constantly looking for a way to move abroad due to complicated social problems such as unemployment and poverty.

"The unemployment rate among the Armenian youth under age of 15-24 years exceeds 40 percent," the UN's data says.

The unemployment rate in Armenia is 17.8 percent which is the highest rate among the CIS and South Caucasus countries. The figure is 25.4 percent in cities and 6.8 percent in villages.

Currently, the young people under the age of 24 years amounts to about 500.000, representing approximately 16.5 percent of the population.

Some 18.7 percent of young people at the age of 18-30 and 23.4 percent at the age of 20-24 are jobless, the UN Population Fund's representative in Armenia reported.

The poverty rate among the Armenian youth under the age of 24 years is 34 percent, which exceeds the national average of 32.4 percent.

Every third Armenian young men is single, the report further noted. The main reason for men who are not ready for family life is unstable financial situation caused by high levels of unemployment in the country.

The report shows that 83.5 percent of the young population would move abroad for temporary residence, while 36.8 percent for permanent residence.

The Armenian government is still unable to take effective measures to cope with the rising unemployment and poverty in the country. The authorities' inaction to resolve the pressing social problems has further triggered migration outflows, which mainly consists of young people.