By Ani Paitjan
In Armenia, four out of 10 people ages 18-30 are unemployed, according to a report by Save the Children. Among that group, 54 percent are women.
Recent data from Trading Economics – a platform that provides its users with economic information for 196 countries – shows that the unemployment rate in Armenia has jumped from 15.7 percent to 16.9 percent since July 2018.
Unemployment
The report notes that 67.1 percent of 18 to 24 year olds are unemployed, and of that group, 66 percent focus on education or training. Meanwhile, 32.9 percent of 25 to 30 year olds are unemployed and 73 percent of those are engaged in domestic work and child care.
The report also depicts a large gender gap between women and men. Forty seven percent of women ages 18 to 30 do not work due to domestic and family work. At the same time, only 3.7 percent of men bear those same responsibilities.
The data shows that 17 percent of young people do not have a job and are not looking for one. Sixty five percent of that group consists of women. Three out of 10 people said they did not look for jobs during the past month because they were busy with family duties. Two out of 10 people noted that they were going to start looking for a job, and one out of 10 said that they did not need to work.
While women have a higher level of education, more than half of them do not want to, or cannot, work. The survey shows that there is a large group of economically inactive women who are able to work, have the skills and knowledge, but are left out of the workplace because of family and child care responsibilities.
The Economy
In February 2019, the Armenian parliament adopted a five-year plan to reform Armenia’s economy – the country’s most pressing problem. But the plan was subject to broad criticism and passed without the support of the two opposition parties of parliament.
The 70-page government plan promises a “substantial decrease” of the severe poverty in Armenia and a “significant decrease” in unemployment by 2023. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan affirmed that the plan is a “competitive and inclusive economy” primarily driven by tech industries. In addition, according to the new program, very small businesses would be exempt from taxes; public sector salaries would be increased.
The plan gave few specific targets: that GDP would increase by five percent a year, exports would be increased to over 40 percent of GDP by 2024, and solar energy would make up 10 percent of the country’s total consumption by 2022.
The plan also includes an initiative to reduce gender inequality, and focus on expanding economic opportunities for women. The plan was criticized for not laying out methodologies and evaluation mechanisms.
Read More:
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