The Information and Decision Support Center of the Egyptian Council of Ministers has released a report on young Egyptians' characteristics and interests. It reveals that 51% of girls and 77% of boys in marriageable age (from 16 to 29 years) have not married yet; males are more than females (103 boys for every 100 girls). According to the report, there are clear differences between the two sexes in terms of participation in the labor force; male workers are 60.3%, while girls have fallen to 21.4%. The report also affirms that while some 9.3 million young people are employed, some 1.96 million are not. The report adds that the unemployment rate among the youth stands at 21.1% (21 youths out of 100 are unable to find employment). Yet, 59% of youth feel very patriotic, according to the report. The report also reveals that from 2004 to 2007, the great majority of students (72.2%) chose to enroll to literary faculties, while 27.8% chose scientific ones. While this represented no significant change compared to the past, according to the report, in 2008 the portion of students who enrolled to scientific faculties rose by 5% to 32.8% of the total number of public secondary school students.
The report points out that the government has raised to LE 5,600 the expenditure for every university student (LE 2,500 more than in 2001). The report also affirms that illiteracy among youths between 15 and 19 years of age stands at 11.7%, while it reaches 18.8% between 20 and 24 years and 25.3% between 25 and 29 years.
