Arab youth concerned about lack of work, rising costs

DUBAI — Despite major concerns about job prospects and personal debt, members of the Arab Spring generation still believe a bright future awaits them — even though they may have to leave home to find it, according to new research by ASADA’A BCW.

The agency’s latest Arab Youth Survey, based on interviews with 3,400 18-24-year-olds, found that young Arabs in the Middle East and North Africa are concerned about low-quality education (87%), lack of jobs (49%) and rising costs (35%).

In turn, the survey found a growing number of young people who prefer government jobs (39%) and working for themselves or their families (28%) over the private sector (20%) and non-profit organizations (11%).

The survey also shows that 35% of young people believe that the biggest obstacle facing the Middle East is the rising cost of living, while 32% believe that unemployment is the biggest obstacle. When asked about the levels of difficulty in finding a job in their country, 49% said it would be difficult, 13% said it would be easy, and 38% said it would be neither easy nor difficult.

All this makes young Arabs consider making big changes in search of better prospects.

The findings show that 57% of young Arabs would like to live in the UAE, up from 33% in 2012. Additionally, 37% would like their country to emulate the UAE, 22% would like to emulate the US, 18% Canada, 14% Germany and 11% would like to emulate France and Turkey.

Qualities that make the UAE so attractive to young Arabs include a growing economy (27%), safety and security (26%) and generous salary packages and a wide range of job opportunities (22%). Finally, 17% are attracted by what they see as the UAE’s effective and visionary leadership.

The survey also found that while respondents want to preserve their identity, they also seek reform, especially when it comes to religion. About 41 percent of respondents said religion was the most important factor in their personal identity, compared to nationality (18 percent) and family/tribe (17 percent). Meanwhile, 73% of young Arabs believe that religion plays too much of a role in the region. When asked whether preserving their religion and cultural identity or creating a more tolerant liberal and globalized society was important to them, 65% agreed that preserving their religious and cultural identity was more important.

“It is not surprising today that they [Arab youth] find themselves at a crossroads,” said Sunil John President, MENA BCW and founder of ASDA’A “BCW they want to maintain their identity while at the same time embracing change.”

A majority, or 67%, of those surveyed say their voice matters to their leadership. At the same time, 48% think their government has the right policies to tackle the issues that matter most to young people, and 52% do not.

When asked about equal rights between women and men in general, 59% say women and men have equal rights with women, and 29% are keen for women to have more rights than men do for women. Finally, 11% believe that men have more rights than women, with women at 8% and men at 13%.

An overwhelming majority, 82%, of the Arab Spring generation believe that promoting stability is more important than democracy.

All this was gathered from face-to-face interviews with participants, which were conducted from May 13 to June 16 in 50 cities in 17 Arab countries, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The Levant includes Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, the Palestinian Territories, Syria and Yemen. North Africa consists of Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia.