Profile of the respondents

34.4% of the young people interviewed had more than 5 members in their family. Apart from Europe where it is only 9.5%, most of the respondents (51.6%) have families with 5 or more members. The data shows that this true in Latin America (67.1%), Asia (67%) and Africa (62.5%). The data confirms the current situation in the three continents where families are large and live together under one roof.

84.4% of the respondents stated that they do not need to emigrate to another country to work. In Europe the figure is slightly higher (88,2%) in comparison to other continents although the difference is not that significant. Generally, 4 out of 5 in all the continents say that they never had to emigrate to find a job.

The level of education is variable; the majority continued their studies to the end of the pre-academic courses (46.5%) until about 19 years old.

The test of significant differences reveals that for Africa there is a significant difference in the level of education between the male and female respondents. The table shows that there are more women in middle schools and a slightly higher number in middle high school yet this drastically changes in the high level school giving men the edge over women in education in Africa.

1 out of 4 (25.7%) of the young people in the study know the YCW very well, 1 out 3 (29.3%) had heard of it and 1 out of 2 (45%) do not know the YCW. In Latin America, the YCW is not very well known (83.1%). Latin America (3.1%) and Asia (13.4%) had the lowest percentage of young people who know the YCW well.

Many of the respondents are single (70.7%). Taking into account the differences for each continent, Latin America (81.0%) comes first, followed by Europe (77.6%), then Africa (65.3%) and lastly Asia and the Middle East (64.4%). There are a higher number of young couples in Africa and especially in Asia and the Middle East (respectively 21.3% and 32.2%). For Europe (13.1%), the data collected confirms the tendency of young Europeans to delay marriage and having children and to lengthen the period of youth.

One in 3 respondents had their first experience of work between the age of 15 and 18 (35.7%). 15.5% started working before the age of 15. The figures are high in Latin America (33.4%) and Europe (17.2%) for young people having their first experience of work at an early age (14 years and below). Most young people in Europe had their first experience of work between the ages of 15 and 18 (53.4%). In Africa and Asia and the Middle East about 1 out of 3 young people had their first experience of work between the ages of 19 and 22.

The majority of the young people in the study are between 19 and 27 years old (71.4%). 28.6% are more than 27 years old; in this range there are 37.1% in Africa, 31.1% in Asia and the Middle East and 14.1% in Latin America. The higher concentration of older respondents in Africa and Asia as opposed to Europe and Latin America can be explained by the difference in the notion of youth between the various continents.

There are more men (55.9%) than women (44.1%); this is particularly true in Asia (60.9% male – 39.1% female) and Africa (59.9% male – 40.1% female). The sample is balanced in Europe and Latin America from the point of view of the target proportion (48.0% men and 52.0% women). In Africa and Asia, women are under-represented (40.1% and 39.1% respectively). This imbalance is perhaps due to lower social visibility of females.

Chart: 

Here is the breakdown of the 3169 completed questionnaires about young people and work: 28.4% from Africa, 30.2% from Asia and the Middle East, 26.6% from Europe and 14.4% from Latin America and 0.3% from North America. Unfortunately America, and in particular North America, is under-represented so it was not treated separately as a continent but the data gathered remains significant and reveals similarities and differences between regional realities.