WAITHOOD: AN ANALYSIS OF THE SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC SITUATION OF YOUTH IN MOZAMBIQUE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.56346/ijsa.v7i8.324Keywords:
Waithood. Youth bulge. Demographic dividend. NEET. MozambiqueAbstract
Youth, individuals between 15 and 35 years old, are the majority of the Mozambican population. Youth is not a permanent state, but a transitional stage between childhood and adulthood, therefore, a stage of preparation and waiting. However, when preparation and waiting are involuntarily prolonged, uncertainty is generated, which is called ‘waithood’. It is a state of suspension that, due to the involuntary long duration that characterizes it, generates indeterminacy, doubt and distrust among the youth and in the socio-economic and political system. One of the indicators, currently in vogue and which can objectively measure the state of waithood, is the NEET, an acronym that stands for "Neither in Employment nor in Education or Training". Using this concept, and applying bivariate and multivariate analysis on data from the Mozambique’s 2017 census, this article shows how the economy's weak ability to keep up with the growth rate of the young population, put about a third of young people (approximately 3 million) on NEET condition. This contingent of young people, whose potential is not effectively used, may be in a situation of waithood, that is, they see their lives involuntarily suspended between childhood and adulthood. The longer they remain in this situation of indeterminacy, the less trust they can have in themselves and in society at large, which can lead to frustration and make them a source of social and political instability.
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