CAIRO: A report issued by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS), on the occasion of World Youth Day, said that the unemployment rate among young people rose to 22 percent, or more than 4 million young people, and explained that the divorce rate also rose to 30.1 percent among males aged between 18 and 29 years old and 53.6 percent for females in Egypt. “The number of young people in Egypt in the age group 18-29-years-old is 18,739,000 people, representing 24.3 percent of the total population in 2009, of whom 50.3 percent were male, 49.7 percent of females and this is based on the population projections for Egypt, which was conducted by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics on the basis of 2006 census data,” read an excerpt from the report. The report emphasized that 27 percent of young people in the age group between 18 and 29-years-old have not completed their basic education, as “17 percent dropped out of school before completing their primary education and 10 percent did not attend school at all.” The report also pointed out that the proportion of young workers recorded about 77.9 percent of the manpower, 83.1 percent males and 16.9 percent for females and indicated that the proportion of young people who suffer various types of disability “was up to 1.5 percent among young people, 2 percent of males versus 1 percent for females.” The report noted the high number of young computer users which was estimated at more than 6 million, while the number of Internet users reached 2.4 million. The report indicated that the high rate of unemployment is the main reason behind the increase in divorce rate among young people. Social Experts warned of a “disaster” in society if the increase in rates “continued without rapid intervention by the state.” Unemployment, CAPMAS said, leads young people to resort to “illegal immigration and crime or drug trafficking,” noting that the temporary solutions to the problem lead to a greater sense of frustration and violence against society and rebellion. BM
