ABSTRACT
In the context of a pronounced youth bulge, a phenomenon associated with a stage in the demographic transition when the share of youth in the population rises substantially, creating productive employment for youth has risen to the very top of the policy agenda in Egypt as in many other developing countries. This chapter argues that the way in which policy makers and planners have been thinking about this issue is excessively focused on a single indicator, the unemployment rate. It also argues that the unemployment rate means something quite different in a context where informality of employment is common, if not the norm, outside the public sector, than it does in contexts where informality is the exception. The typical approaches used in more developed countries to promote youth employment and to assist new labour market entrants in their transition from school to work are generally ineffective.
