Situation of the youth in the Palestinian society
In its resolution 54/120, the United Nations General Assembly designated August 12th of each year to be the International Youth Day, which serves as an annual celebration of the role of young women and men as essential partners in change, and an opportunity to raise awareness of challenges and problems facing the world’s youth. This year’s theme highlights efforts to make education more inclusive and accessible for all youth, including efforts by youth themselves. Rooted in Goal 4 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for allâ€
The United Nations defines the youth as the individuals in the age group (15-24 years) with the possibility of adjusting this category according to the specificity of each country. In this press release, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) considered the youth as the individuals in the age group (18-29 years).
About 1.1 million youth in Palestine
The percentage of youth (18-29 years) in Palestine was about 23% of the total population (1.13 million), and a sex ratio of 105 males per 100 females. It is worth noting that the population estimates in Palestine in the mid of 2019 indicate that the total population reached about 4.98 million, knowing that the proportion of youth people was also about 23% in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
15% of Palestinian households headed by youth
According to the data of the Population, Housing and Establishments Census 2017, the percentage of households headed by youth (18-29 years) in Palestine was 15% (14% in the West Bank and 17% in Gaza Strip). While in 2007 this percentage was 9% in Palestine (10% in the West Bank and 8% in Gaza Strip). Which indicates an increase in the social and economic challenges that face the youth.
73% of registered marriages for 2018 were for the female youth
Marriage and divorce data for 2018 in Palestine indicate that 73% of the total registered marriage contracts for females were for the female youth (18-29 years) compared to 79% for the male youth (18-29 years). On the other hand, the data showed that divorce rates for the female youth (18-29 years) amounted to 67% of the total divorce cases for 2018, compared with 55% for males (18-29 years).
Increase with almost the double in the percentage of the female youth with a bachelor’s degree
The percentage of the youth (18-29 years) who have a bachelor degree or above increased from 12% (11% in the West Bank and 13% in Gaza Strip) in 2007 to about 17% in Palestine and West Bank and Gaza Strip in 2018.
According to sex, the percentage of the female youth (18-29 years) who have a bachelor degree or above increased from 11% in 2007 to about 22% in 2018, while the percentage of the male youth (18-29 years) who have a bachelor degree or above increased from 11% to about 13% for the same time period.
 Significant increase in enrollment rates among the youth during the period 1997-2017
The results of the labor force survey 2018 showed that 37% of youth (18-29 years) were enrolled in education by 45% in the age group (18-22 years), and 7% in the age group (23-29 years). While the percentage of enrollment among male youth was 20% compared to 28% for the female youth. In 1997, enrollment among the youth reached 16%, and increased significantly to 28% in 2007.
isappearance of illiteracy in Palestine, including the youth
The rate of illiteracy among youth (18-29 years) decreased from 1.1% (1.1% in the West Bank and 1.2% in Gaza Strip) in 2007 to about 0.7% in Palestine and West Bank and Gaza Strip according to the data of the labor force survey 2018
More than half of the youth participating in the labor force
The percentage of participation in the labor force among youth (18-29 years) in Palestine reached 52% in 2018 (77% among males and 26% among females) compared with 44% in 2008 (68% among males and 18% among females). The percentage of participation among individuals in the age group (18-29 years) in the West Bank increased from 45% in 2008 to 50% in 2018, and increased from 42% to 54% in Gaza Strip during the same period.
High unemployment rate among the youth and increasing over time
The unemployment rate among youth (18-29 years) in Palestine increased in 2018 as it reached 45% (36% among males and 70% among females) compared with 37% (36% among males and 43% among females). On the other hand, the unemployment rate among individuals in the age group (18-29 years) in the West Bank decreased from 28% in 2008 to 27% in 2018, while it increased significantly in Gaza Strip from 53% to 69% during the same period .
More than half of the youth graduates are unemployed
The rate of unemployment among graduates (18-29 years) holding intermediate diploma degree or higher was 58% during 2018 (40% for males and 73% for females). Graduates of the educational sciences and teacher training specialization in 2018 recorded the highest unemployment rate at 76% (52% for males and 81% for females). Graduates of the law specialization recorded the lowest unemployment rate at 29% (25% for males and 41% for females).
Half of the youth (18– 29 years) are not in employment, education or trainingÂ
50% was the percentage of the youth (18-29 years) who arenot in employment education or training in 2018 (41% in the West Bank compared with 63% in Gaza strip). The percentage by sex was 35% for males and 65% for females.
The female youth in Palestine receive a daily average wage about 68% of the male youth wage
The average daily wage for the youth wage employees in Palestine was about 100 NIS in 2018 (71 NIS for females compared with 105 NIS for males), at the regional level the average daily wage was 120 NIS in the West Bank compared with 33 NIS in Gaza Strip.
The participation rate of the youth and adults in formal and non-formal education and training was 13% in the previous 12 months in 2018, 27% for the youth (18-29 years), 4% for adults (30-64 years), compared with 1% for the elderly aged 65 years and above, by sex the rate was 11% for males compared with 15% for females.
The work of the female youth is concentrated in the services sector, while, trade, restaurants and hotels sectors are the most accommodating for the male youth employment
The percentage of the youth working in the services sector was 25% in 2018 (19% for males and 67% for females) compared with 28% in the trade, restaurants and hotels sector (30% for males and 14% for females), 20% in construction sector (23% for males and 0.1% for females) 16% of the employed youth work in industry (17% for males and 12% for females). The percentage of workers in the agriculture sector was 7% (8% for males and 4% for females), while the percentage of the employed youth in transportation, storage and communications sector reached 5% (6% for males and 4% for females).
Less than 1% of the Palestinian youth work in decision-making positions
The data for 2018 showed that 0.9% of the youth work as legislators and senior management employees (1% in the West Bank and 0.4% in Gaza Strip).
The data of the youth shows that there is a rise in education levels accompanied by a rise in unemployment rates, especially among graduates. A special study was prepared by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics on the gap between education and labor market, where it revealed a large gap between the outputs of education and the needs of the labor market, which highlights the necessity to define the specializations that must be selected by the students.
About one fourth of the youth (18-29 years) tried to establish their own businesses
Palestinian Youth Survey 2015, data shows that the percentage of youth (18-29 years) tried to establish their own businesses that 24%  with 17% in the West Bank, comapred to 34% in Gaza Strip. There were clear gender variances with young males who attempted to careate their own business representing 33%, compared to 14% females. Of the youth who tried to establish their own business, 17% had actaully their own project, being 20% in the West Bank and 15% in Gaza Strip. Gender variance was 22% of males with their own projects of all those who attempted, compared to 6% of females with actual private project of the total famels who tried to establish their own projects.
91% of the youth (18-29 years) have at least one mobile phone line, with a wide use of smartphones
The data of the Social and Economic Conditions Survey 2018 showed that the percentage of the youth (18 – 29 years) who own a mobile phone or a smartphone was 91% in Palestine (96% in the West Bank and 82% in Gaza Strip). The percentage by sex was 87% for females and 94% for males. While the percentage of the youth (18 – 29 years) who used the internet from anywhere reached 80% in Palestine (85% in the West Bank and 71% in Gaza Strip). In terms of sex, the percentage was 78% for females and 82% for males in Palestine.
About 82% of the youth (18 – 29 years) have basic ICT skills
ICT skills are fundamental for participation in the information society and are positively related to social well-being and economic productivity. The data of the Social and Economic Conditions Survey 2018 showed that about 82% of the youth (18 – 29 years) in the Palestine who used the computer have basic skills such as copying files or folders or using copying and pasting tools, and sending emails with attached files. 72% of the youth (18-29 years) who used the computer have standard skills such as installing or configuring software or using computational formulas on spreadsheets. And 18% of the youth (18-29 years) who used computers have advanced skills such as writing a computer program using a specialized programming language.
3 out of 100 youth have difficulty, and about 15% of the youth who have difficulties are not enrolled in education
According to the data of the Population, Housing and Establishments Census 2017, 32,646 individuals (18-29 years) in Palestine have a difficulty representing 3.2% of the youth (14,527 in the West Bank (2.5%) and 18,119 in Gaza Strip (4.2%)). The percentage of difficulty among youth males was 4.4% compared with 2.0% among youth females. Mobility difficulty is considered the most prevalent among the youth, where 1.4% of the Palestinian youth (18-29 years) suffer from mobility difficulty followed by seeing difficulty with a percentage of 1.2% for the same category.
As for enrollment in education among youth people with difficulty, in 2017 the results indicated that the proportion of those who did not enroll in education reached about 15% (17% in the West Bank compared to 13% in Gaza Strip).
More than half of the youth in Gaza Strip are poor
The percentage of poverty among individuals according to monthly consumption patterns was estimated at 29% during 2017 (14% in the West Bank and 53% in Gaza Strip). The poverty rate among youth (18-29 years) according to monthly consumption patterns was 30% (13% in the West Bank and 57% in Gaza Strip). 17% of the Palestinians in Palestine suffer from extreme poverty (6% in the West Bank and 34% in Gaza Strip). While extreme poverty among youth (18-29 years) was 18% in Palestine (6% in the West Bank and 36% in Gaza Strip).
