عربي
Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS)
On the occasion of the International Youth Day, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) issues a press release demonstrating the situation of 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, being key partners in the change, 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.
The COVID-19 pandemic has global, major and negative implications on many sectors including social and economic aspects. In Palestine, the impact of the pandemic is doubled due to the difficult restrictions imposed by the Israeli occupation, which exacerbated the suffering of the Palestinian community.
The youth are the society's most live, vital and productive segment, and they are expected to have an important and major role in the recovery from this crisis. To that end, the UN announced that this year's anniversary is intended to highlight the participation of the youth and motivate them to work and engage in the local, regional and global movements under the theme “Youth Engagement for Global Action”, in addition to concluding morals and lessons learned in order to promote their presentation and participation in the official institutionalized policies more often.
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).
A Young Society
The percentage of youth (18-29 years) in Palestine was about 22% of the total population (1.14 million). It is worth noting that the population estimates in Palestine in the mid of 2020 indicate that the total population reached about 5.10 million, while the percentage of youth was about 23% in the West Bank and 22% in Gaza Strip. From another side the sex ratio was 105 males per 100 females.
180 per one thousand young persons hold a bachelor's degree or a higher degree
The percentage of youth (18-29 years) who have a bachelor degree or above in Palestine increased from 120 young person per 1000 in 2007 to about 180 in 2019.
The percentage of female youth who hold a bachelor degree or a higher degree increased from 130 female per 1000 in 2007 to about 230 per 1000 in 2019, while the percentage of male youth who hold a bachelor degree or a higher degree increased from 110 per 1000 in 2007 to about 130 in 2019.
Adecrase in the Percentage of Early Marriage
The percentage of young women (18-29 years) who got married before reaching the age of 18 decreased to about 14 young females per 100 females, according to the preliminary results of the Palestinian Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS), 2019 (12% in the West Bank and about 17% in the Gaza Strip), as opposed to 37 females per 100 females according to the Palestinian Household Survey, 2010.
More than one third of currently or previously married young women (18-29) experienced violence by their husbands
Data indicated that the percentage of violence prevalence among currently or previously married young women reached 37% in Palestine (31% in the West Bank and 46% in Gaza Strip) in 2019, Where during the COVID- 19 pandemic and quarantine all international studies expected an increase of violence against women during the pandemic in addition increase in domestic violence.
Disappearance of illiteracy in Palestine, including the youth
According to the data of the Labor Force Survey 2019, the illiteracy rate among the youth (18-29 years) has disappeared, where it decreased to about 0.7% in Palestine (0.8% in the West Bank and 0.7% in Gaza Strip) as opposed to 1.1% (1.1% in the West Bank and 1.2% in Gaza Strip) in 2007.
High unemployment rate among the youth
The current impacts of the COVID – 19 crisis since the beginning of March 2020 directly affected the different segments of the Palestinian society, especially the youth. These implications of the Coronavirus pandemic led to an increase in the unemployment rate among the youth that is generally high in normal situations. Thus, the unemployment rate among the youth (18-29 years) in Palestine reached 38% in 2019 (31% among males and 63% among females) as 63% in Gaza Strip and 23% in the West Bank. Data also showed that the higher unemployment percentage among the youth was for holders of intermediate diploma and higher, where this percentage reached 52% during 2019 (35% males and 68% females).
About 124 thousand young people work in the informal sector
The number of youth working in the informal sector reached 123,700 workers, of whom 115,500 were males compared to 8,200 females. The percentage of youth working in this sector represented about 37% of the total working youth in Palestine, knowing that the percentage of youth working in the informal employment in Palestine (meaning youth working in the unorganized sector in addition to wage employees who do not obtain any labour market benefits including end-of-service / retirement, or annual paid leave, or paid sick leave) has reached 59% of total employed youth. 62% are males and 38% are females. 58% of them are in the West Bank and 62% in the Gaza Strip.
One third of wage- employed youth work in the private sector have a monthly wage which is less than the minimum wage (1,450 shekels)
The number of wage- employed youth in the private sector who earn less than the minimum wage of (1,450 shekels) is about 54,600 employees, of whom 12,100 are in the West Bank (10.1% of the total wage –employed work in the private sector) at a monthly wage rate of 1,098 NIS, and 42,500 wage employed youth in Gaza Strip which is about 93.4% of youth working in the private sector, at a monthly wage of 611 shekels.
Half of the youth (18- 29 years) are not in employment, education or training
50% was the percentage of the youth (18-29 years) who are not in employment /education or training in 2019 (41% in the West Bank compared with 64% in Gaza strip). The percentage by sex was 33% for males and 68% for females.
Majority of youth have access to internet
The data of the household survey for information and communications technology for the year 2019 showed that the percentage of the youth (18–29 years) who used the internet from any location reached 86% in Palestine (90% in the West Bank and 79% in Gaza Strip). According to sex there are no differences.