UN Analysis Final.pdf - United Nations in Cambodia

Table 5-1. Labour market programmes (2005-2006)
Programme
Institution/
Agency
Beneficiaries
(Number)
Expenditure
(Million US$)
Vocational Training (MoLVT) MoLVT 13,000 0.78
Vocational training for orphans and widowed and
female-headed households
MoWA 2,447 0.11
Vocational training (SESDP) MoLVT/ADB N/A 1.08
Food for Asset (Food for Work) WFP 11,504 0.14
Total 25,504 1.97
Source: ADB 2006
5.2 STATISTICAL PROFILE OF YOUTH AND EMPLOYMENT
In recent years, youth population has increased remarkably. The Ministry of Planning (MoP) (2006) indicates
that those aged 15–24 represented 26 per cent of the population in 2004, and that large numbers of them are
entering the labour force as a result of a baby boom in the 1980s. A common issue among this group is rising
unemployment. Because Cambodia’s poor and very poor youth cannot afford to be unemployed, they work
for low pay, with little or no social or safety protection and on short-term or informal contracts. The findings
presented below suggest that measures must be taken to ensure that youth do not add to underemployment
in the countryside or to higher rates of urban unemployment, but that they should contribute instead to
growth and development through productive employment.
5.2.1 EMPLOYED YOUTH
Youth labour force participation rate: Cambodia’s labour force participation rate is one the highest in the
region. A large proportion of youths born in the 1980s began to reach working age in the mid-1990s. As large
numbers of young people began entering the labour force, the economy came under enormous pressure to
create new jobs. Tables 5.2 shows labour force participation by age and gender. Some 75 per cent of all those
aged 10 and older were economically active in 2004.
Table 5-2. Total and economically active population by age group- CSES 2003-04
Age
Group
Total Men Women
Total
Population
Active
Population
Activity
Rate
Total
Population
Active
Population
Activity
Rate
Total
Population
Active
Population
Activity
Rate
0- 14 1,817,863 874,591 48.1 924,885 454,441 49.1 892,978 420,150 47.1
15-19 1,705,251 1,241,165 72.8 875,578 634,646 72.5 829,673 606,519 73.1
20-24 1,443,322 1,206,606 83.6 717,496 624,888 87.1 725,826 581,718 80.1
25-29 815,318 708,957 87.0 388,058 367,958 94.8 427,260 340,999 79.8
Total 5,781,754 4,031,319 69.7% 2,906,017 2,081,933 71.6% 2,875,737 1,949,386 67.8%
Source: CSES 2004
Situation Analysis of Youth in Cambodia
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