Youth is commonly conceptualised as a period of transition in which young people strive to meet the social markers of adulthood, such as getting work, starting families and being recognised as full and productive citizens. Here we extend our analysis of youth to capture the developmental needs...

African countries face high youth unemployment and a skills shortage. Technical and vocational systems in Africa are poorly funded and managed. Skill-development strategies need to be integrated into poverty-reduction strategies and focused on sectors with promising employment prospects.

In this paper, we study on a comparative basis the school-to-work transition of young women and young men in six countries in sub-Saharan Africa, and we examine how this has evolved over recent years, based on the data collected by Demographic and Health Surveys. We examine educational...