Solving unemployment for common good

Last month, the General Report on the 2021 Population and Housing Census of the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) indicated that the number of people who are available for work but are unable to find work had more than doubled in the country.

From a rate of 5.3 per cent of people available to work but unable to find work in the 2010 census, the figure is now 13.4 per cent.

The figure is the highest since 1984 when the country started reporting unemployment data.

The report showed that out of an economically active population of 11.54 million, 1.55 million were unemployed.

Dishearteningly, females and the youth between 15 and 24 years were the worst hit, according to the report.

For females, the unemployment rate was 15.5 per cent, higher than that of males, which stood at 11.6 per cent.

Unemployment, it showed, was highest in the Savanna Region and lowest in the Oti Region.

In earlier reports, the GSS had indicated that it took university and other tertiary graduates an average of five years to land jobs.

Employment, indeed, makes a man or woman. God created humans to work and be active, and, baring disability or illness, all adult able-bodied humans are expected to engage in one form of work or another.

Indeed, employment is so crucial that it is currently an indicator of the overall wellbeing of individuals and households.

Employment is also indicative of the efforts made by governments, judging by initiatives such as Planting for Food and Jobs (P4J) and the various modules under the Youth Employment Agency (YEA).

Women in employment also ensure that whole households are taken care of, resulting in the general well-being of communities.

If women are in gainful employment, it results in better homes, communities and the country at large.

Unemployment figures have been speculated on for some time now, and it is, therefore, timely the data released by the GSS. The figures show that more effort is needed.

The Government Statistician, Professor Samuel Kobina Annim, while presenting a series of reports on the 2021 PHC, had cause to caution that figures on the population showed a youth bulge.

The youth bulge, also termed a demographic bomb, is a common phenomenon in developing countries, with a large share of the population comprising children and young adults.

With no prospects in health, education, employment, leisure and pleasure, the youth bulge becomes a ticking time bomb; the youth in that bracket then become tools for social upheavals.

We of the Daily Graphic are aware of the efforts by the government to create employment opportunities, like the National Entrepreneurship Initiative Programme (NEIP).

However, the figures that now stare us in the face show that efforts are not enough. Indeed, with a double figure unemployment rate among the youth and females, the government, the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations and all other agencies in charge of employment have to up their game.

In our day, we need not re-invent the wheel. Examples of job creation initiatives abound in other jurisdictions. We must put in all effort to ensure that we get our youth and women in gainful employment.

The agricultural sector is growing and holds the promise; we ought to harness that to get all employed.

We also need dialogue. It is said that wisdom is not in the head of only one person, for which reason we need consultations and engagements.

We need to solve the challenge of unemployment to ensure our continued viability as a country.