Unemployment of educated youth in rural Kenya: a study of unemployed form four leavers in Murang'a district

Abstract

The study explores the much-debated problem of unemployment in Kenya. It focuses on employed and unemployed form four leavers in Murang'a District who were the interviewees. The study mainly attempts to generate knowledge about the interviewee in Kenya and to clarify controversial issues related to the problem. Three hypotheses are tested to find out factors that influence ownership of local resources and employment statue of the youth in Murang'a District.

The study found inter alia that most leavers were poor performers hence have 1imited opportunities for further training. Moreover, due to financial constraints, only 20% of them succeeded in acquiring technical skills.

The average age of the 1eavers was 22 years. However, due to the fact that most of them were single (88.2%), most parents considered them as underage and therefore not entitled to ownership of local resources such as land.

Both categories of leavers were receiving incomes below the district's poverty line (797 Shillings in 1983) per month. Hence, they were living in poverty like the 'working poor'.

Skilled leavers were found to be more marketable than the unskilled. However, the presence of some unemployed skilled leavers reveals that technical training is not a panacea for the unemployment problem. In conclusion, it is recommended that rural youth groups be assisted, more appropriate jobs be created and a national study on unemp1oyed form four 1eavers be undertaken.