Although more than two thirds of young Arabs are concerned about their personal debt and cost of living, they are also optimistic about their future, with 60 percent believing their best days lie ahead, ASDA’A BCW’s 13th annual Arab Youth Survey indicated.
When it comes to economic recovery from Covid-19, most of those surveyed expected this to happen by 2022, with youth from the GCC envisioning a quicker return to normalcy. Meanwhile, 48 percent of Arab youth believe their country’s economy is going in the right direction, a 5 percent increase from last year, but below the pre-pandemic optimism from 2019 of 53 percent.
“The highlight of the findings this year is no doubt the optimism that shines through among young Arabs, despite the impact of the pandemic, the challenging economic environment, and ongoing regional conflicts,” Sunil John (pictured above), president – MENA, BCW and founder of ASDA’A BCW, told Arabian Business.
“The survey finds that nearly two-thirds (60 percent) of young Arabs believe their best days lie ahead of them; this is the highest level of positivity in five years. Further, almost half of young Arabs (48 percent) said they were confident that they would lead a better life than their parents – the highest percentage expressing this sentiment for three years. We last observed optimism as strong as this in our 2013 survey, when nearly three-quarters (74 percent) of young Arabs, including those in the GCC, the Levant and North Africa, said their best days lay ahead,” he continued.
The Arab Youth Survey polled 3,400 Arab citizens aged between 18 and 24 in 50 cities and territories across 17 countries. It was conducted for ASDA’A BCW by PSB Insights, the global strategic research and analytics specialist, amongst a cohort equally split between men and women.
Despite the optimism reflected in the survey’s findings, the impact of coronavirus continues to weigh Arab youth down with 88 percent of them listing the pandemic as one of the top obstacles facing the region, just after “the rising cost of living”, which was listed as the highest obstacle with 89 percent.
A third of Arab youth surveyed said they’ve had someone in their family lose their job due to coronavirus and 63 percent of those indicated the family member didn’t find a new career.
Concerns over the rising cost of living have remained persistently high over the last five years, while more than two-thirds of young Arabs are concerned about personal debt. At 19 percent, student loans and educational expenses was the biggest expense in the personal debt category with 87 percent of those indicating they are concerned about the quality of education in their country.
“The concern of young Arabs over the quality of education in their country has been a consistent worry. Tracking data from the past 13 years of our survey shows that they have called out the need for quality higher education as a priority, along with the need for job creation. These two are interlinked and it is important to bridge the gap between the two,” said John, speaking exclusively to Arabian Business.
As such, young Arabs are looking to their governments to tackle “wasta” and nepotism, provide better information about job opportunities and engage in educational reform, all scoring 28 percent.
“We have a call to action, and decision-makers must examine the impact of the findings on government policy closely, including both the areas of common ground and the areas where the data diverges,” said Jihad Azour, director of the International Monetary Fund’s Middle East and Central Asia Department, Washington DC.
“To achieve the aspirations of Arab youth, we must increase financial inclusion, providing our young Arab entrepreneurs ready access to affordable finance. They must have a level playing field, where red tape and the interference of the state in economic management is kept to a minimum. And we need a new, citizen-based social contract,” he continued.
When it comes to their career, an increasing percentage of Arab youth are leaning towards starting their own business, although working in the government/public sector remains the biggest draw at 42 percent.
Asked what their government should do to promote enterpeunirship, issuing government-guaranteed loans (17 percent), encouraging affordable lending (16 percent) and reducing regulations and red tape (14 percent) were the three highest marked replies.
“Arab youth’s hope for the future is extremely refreshing. They are excited about the future, which is a sentiment we see on the ground in Saudi Arabia,” said Dania Khaled Al Maeena, CEO of Aloula NGO.
“Youth are now more creative; many no longer want a steady government job like their parents had. Instead, they want to do what they are passionate about. But we can’t take the optimism of our young people for granted. We must bridge the gap between the education sector and the needs of the workplace. This will involve creating new skill sets to ensure our youth are prepared for the new economy,” she continued.
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