This study examines youth employment policies implemented in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Tunisia following the Arab Spring, asking whether, after this series of massive social protests concluded, new policies and institutions have emerged to address the deep-seated and intensifying crisis of youth unemployment.
Given the importance of youth unemployment in driving the Arab Spring revolts, policy recommendations issuing from national governments and international financial institutions (IFIs) (and from bi-lateral aid agencies, to which we pay less attention in this study) should reflect the dramatically changed environment in the region after 2011. Accordingly, our primary research questions are: what policies and programs have emerged since the Arab Spring that address youth unemployment; and what factors motivate these policy choices?
To answer these questions, we employ a policy prescriptive approach to identify policy change, and to better understand the implications of policies chosen, whether directly related to addressing youth employment, or indirectly related via economic growth-oriented policy choices.
We find a wide range in new policies pursued, as well as in the institutional infrastructure required for effective implementation. Common across most of these countries, however, are impediments to policy creation presented by regional conflict, constraints on policy autonomy, and an inadequate number of new jobs created annually to absorb the rapidly increasing number of unemployed.
We see encouraging developments in the emerging social solidarity economy in Morocco and, to a lesser extent, Tunisia. Moreover, Tunisia’s new constitution clearly acknowledges the importance of youth employment in not only reducing poverty, but also for strengthening social stability. In addition, Egypt’s heavy investment in large infrastructure projects suggests a willingness to pursue public works projects in order to address that country’s persistent unemployment crisis, and post-Arab Spring ministry-level initiatives underscore Jordan’s interest in breaking with the economic growth-led policies of the past and focusing more directly on youth employment.
| First name | Last name | Gender | Rank | Affiliated Institution | Country |
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| Heath | Prince | Male | United States of America | ||
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Bio:
Dr. Prince is the Ray Marshall Center’s director and a research scientist. He has over twenty years’ experience in the education, workforce, and international development fields as a researcher, project manager, policy analyst, and evaluator. Dr. Prince serves as principal investigator for research and evaluation projects related to poverty and the labor market, including a behavioral economics experiment in Northern Jordan related to post-natal care, a United Nations Research Institute for Social Development study examining post-Arab Spring policies and programs addressing youth unemployment in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Tunisia, as well as for program evaluations in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Nigeria. He has written, published, and presented extensively on domestic and international employment and training programs and policies, postsecondary education, and poverty reduction. |
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Scientific field
Public policy
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Start Year2015
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End Year 2019
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| Funding Agency | Funding Agency Type | Country of Funding Agency |
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| United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) | UN | Switzerland |
| Swedish International Development Agency | Governmental Organization | Sweden |
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