Unemployment of the population in Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the most pressing problems, and youth unemployment has reached a level of almost 40 percent.
Research has shown that the inability to find a job is the main reason why the young population is constantly moving out of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
According to “The Economist” magazine, BiH is at the top of the list with the largest brain drain, and the fact that even 51.3 percent of young people are interested in leaving BiH is worrying.
Numerous reasons
The youth unemployment rate in Bosnia and Herzegovina is even four times higher than in the countries of the European Union.
There are many reasons for this, and some of them are hidden in the fact that the country was faced with a not very successful process of economic transition. There is also the issue of an inadequate education system that has not been modernized, as well as low incomes.
Also, the data indicate that the most common reasons for leaving are the unstable political situation and the belief in a greater possibility of success, and there is no single strategy that would specify the priorities for improving the living conditions of young people in order for the state to keep them in the country.
Youth unemployment is 38.3 percent
When it comes to youth employment (from 15 to 24 years old), data from the BiH Statistics Agency show that the youth unemployment rate is 38.3 percent. Before the pandemic, the unemployment rate had a constant and stable downward trend.
The Institute for Youth Development KULT conducted a survey on the position of youth in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the data they shared with Fena says that young people believe that the priorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina should authorities in the next five years should be employment and education.
They also point out that the legislation in the field of the labor market does not follow the trends in which young people today find jobs and ensure their existence, for example, freelance jobs, lack of classification of new occupations.
Poor standard
The research clearly showed that young people no longer leave Bosnia and Herzegovina only because of economic conditions, but because of a generally poor standard of living and insecurity for their family in terms of a stable social environment in which they can build a family, a lack of concrete social progress in various areas and retrograde political processes.
“Successful, ambitious, employed young people who want to build their careers, family and life in better social conditions are leaving BiH more and more often, and which they very often find in some of the more developed countries,” they say from KULT.
The fact that 40 percent of the young people included in the research stated that a member of their immediate family left Bosnia and Herzegovina in the last seven years is also worrying, and that departures most often take place in non-urban areas.
Also, the results show that more than 50 percent of those surveyed have an interest in leaving Bosnia and Herzegovina, while 12.1 percent of them have already taken concrete steps in that direction.
3,132 respondents from all over BiH participated
3,132 respondents from all over Bosnia and Herzegovina participated in the Survey on the situation of young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina, of whom 51.8 percent were women and 48.1 percent were men, between the ages of 15 and 30, from suburban and urban areas. The average age of the respondents is 22.14 years.
According to the preliminary results of that research, 50 percent of young people are willing to start their own business, but they say that they do not have the opportunity to do so, while 13 percent of them have undertaken certain activities to start their own business or have already started a business.
Also, more than 50 percent of young people believe that they primarily need financial resources, and in the second place, about 16 percent of them say that they need professional or mentoring support in running these businesses.
Among the numerous data of the research is the fact that more than 65 percent of young people live in households with their parents, and 44.7 percent of them cannot contribute to the household budget.
