Arab Youth Survey 2021: One in three hit by Covid-19 pandemic job losses

From job losses to widening gender inequality, the coronavirus pandemic changed the lives of young Arabs across the board

Palestinian youths practise parkour skills on Gaza Beach during sunset, on February 12. Those aged 18 to 24 in Gaza and the West Bank were polled for the 2021 Arab Youth Survey. Photo: Sameh Rahmi / NurPhoto

A woman adjusts her headscarf as she sits with her dog at a cafe in Saudi Arabia's eastern city of Khobar. About 82 per cent of young Saudi Arabian citizens are optimistic about their future. Photo: Fayez Nureldine / AFP

Emiratis gather around an open fire at the Liwa desert. The UAE was named the most desirable country to live in for the 10th consecutive year by young Arabs polled for the 2021 Arab Youth Survey. Photo: Karim Sahib / AFP

Palestinian protesters carry an injured youth amid clashes with Israeli security forces in the village of Beita, south of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank, on May 28. Despite this, 41 per cent of young Palestinians polled in the Arab Youth Survey were optimistic about their future. Photo: Jaafar Ashtiyeh / AFP

Young Moroccans in the capital Rabat. About 70 per cent of those questioned said Covid-19 harmed their education, the survey said. Photo: Fadel Senna / AFP

Two young rappers in the Tunis metro. More than three quarters of young Tunisians surveyed said they were confident that their voice mattered to their country's leadership. The survey was conducted in July. Photo: Emeric Fohlen / NurPhoto

Young Iraqis chat as they gather to perform stunts on motorbikes and scooters in the Jadriya district of Baghdad. About 42 per cent of young Iraqis say religion is central to their identity. Photo: Ahmad Al Rubaye / AFP

Young women enjoy fresh air and sun near the Amman citadel and Roman amphitheatre In Amman, Jordan. About 71 per cent of young Jordanians said they believed their voice mattered to their country's leadership. Photo: Hristo Vladev / NurPhoto

Egyptian fans gather at a sports cafe to watch a football match. Egypt is regarded as the region's strongest ally by young Arabs. Photo: Ibrahim Ezzat / AFP

A group of young Algerians in a popular neighbourhood of the capital Algiers. The influence of the US is felt by 61 per cent of young Arabs polled in the 2021 survey. Photo: Ryad Kramdi / AFP

Young Omani women walk on a hiking trail in the village of Misfat Al Abriyeen. Only 13 per cent of young Omanis say they would consider emigrating. Photo: Mohammed Mahjoub / AFP

Students line up to receive their certificates during the Visual Graduation Ceremony 2021 of Bahrain Bayan School in Sakhir. About half of young Bahrainis said they felt the pandemic affected their educational. Photo: Hamad I Mohammed / Reuters

Young Sudanese women walk in the Otash camp for internally displaced people near Nyala town, the capital of South Darfur. Two thirds of young Sudanese people said they want to live in the UAE. Photo: Ashraf Shazly / AFP

Libyan youths gather at a cliff by the Mediterranean Sea in the capital Tripoli. Young Libyans were polled in Tripoli, Misrata and Benghazi for the 2021 Arab Youth Survey. Photo: Mahmud Turkia / AFP

Ghenwa, 20, a trainee flight attendant, Souna, 25, a business manager, Karam, 23, a DJ, and Ali, 24, an IT student, go bowling in Damascus, Syria. More than two thirds of young Syrians believe their best days are ahead of them, up from 12 per cent in 2020. Photo: Yamam Al Shaar / Reuters

Iraqi graduates sit in a tent as they protest against a lack of jobs in Baghdad. About one third of young Iraqis say they have considered emigrating. Photo: Teba Sadiq / Reuters

Omani youths play football on the beach at sunset in the capital Muscat. More than 90 per cent of young Omanis believe their voice matters to their country's leadership. Photo: Mohammed Mahjoub / AFP

A Kuwaiti rides a skateboard, on a warm day near the beachfront, in the capital Kuwait City. More than 80 per cent of young Kuwaitis believe Covid-19 has affected their education. Photo: Yasser Al Zayyat / AFP

About 97 per cent of young Syrians believe the Covid-19 pandemic affected their educational experience, according to the 2021 Arab Youth Survey. Photo: Alamy

Two young men on the terrace of a kasbah in Morocco. Almost 80 per cent of young Moroccans said they believed their best days were ahead. Photo: Alamy

About 71 per cent of young Tunisians said their institutions needed reform, according to the 2021 Arab Youth Survey. Photo: Alamy

Volunteers of the anti-sexual harassment organisation, Harassmap, during a street awareness campaign in Cairo. About 65 per cent of young Egyptians said they would want to live in the UAE. Photo: Alamy

Latest: Young hopeful their best days lie ahead, despite pandemic slump

Related: UAE most desirable country to live in for 10th year

The pandemic had a wide-ranging impact on young Arabs, affecting everything from work to women’s rights, a regional study has found.

One in three young people across the Middle East and North Africa said they, or someone in their family, lost their job due to coronavirus, this year’s ASDA’A BCW Arab Youth Survey shows.

And most, just under two thirds, have yet to find another one.

That is down slightly on a snap Covid-19 “pulse” survey conducted last August to assess the severity of the crisis. It found one in five young Arabs or someone in their family had lost their job due to the coronavirus.

The pandemic cost Middle East and North Africa (Mena) economies an estimated $227 billion last year, while a UN forecast put Mena job losses at 1.7 million in 2020.

But most young Arabs say they expect the economic recovery to be completed in 2022, with the majority of young Gulf nationals believing it will happen by the second half of 2022.

This year’s survey also found Covid-19 had a negative impact on their educational experience.

This is most true in Syria, where 97 per cent said it did, and least true in the UAE, where 51 per cent said the pandemic had a negative impact on their education experience.

More young Arab women believe they do not have the same rights as men

Perceptions of gender equality have also changed since the 2020 survey, which was conducted before the pandemic began.

Significantly more young Arab women believe men have greater rights than women in 2021 compared to year prior, at 40 per cent versus 25 per cent. Fewer women also believe men and women have the same rights at 51 per cent in 2021, compared to 64 per cent in 2020. And 9 per cent say women have more rights than men, down from 11 per cent in 2020.

"The survey findings on gender rights are not encouraging," said Hussein Ibish, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, and a columnist for The National.

"The percentage believing that men have more rights than women in their societies soared."

More than three quarters of young women across the Arab region are also concerned about a lack of opportunities to join the workforce. The rates are highest in the Levant, at 84 per cent, and lowest in the GCC, at 65 per cent.

Young Arab women say they have less access to jobs than men

"A majority, 79 per cent, of women say they lack job opportunities, including 52 per cent in the GCC," said Mr Ibish, in a comment piece commissioned for the Arab Youth Survey.

"But the sense of economic gender inequality is significantly higher in other Arab regions, suggesting the potential for the emigration of young women to the Gulf as well as the West in search of badly-needed job opportunities."

Unemployed Iraqis protest against the government - in pictures