Youful population

Location

Located on the mainland of Southeast Asia

Scale of demographic dividend

• Garment manufacturing grew at an average annual rate of 44 percent, while tourism grew at 34 per cent yearly during the 1994 and 2004.

• With economic gains has come a decline in poverty from 45 per cent 1993/4 to 35 per cent a decade later

• More than 8-in-10 of 15-24 year olds are literate. Literacy rates are 87.9 per cent and 78.9 per cent for males and females,

• Two out of every three people are aged below 25 and more than 30 per cent are aged between 10-24 years

• As of 2004 , 60 per cent of the population was below 25 years of age.

Cause

• Economic growth was rapid between 1997 and 2007, averaging 8.2 per cent annually. This growth has been largely fuelled by garment manufacturing and tourism, both of which employ large numbers of youths

• Rural-to-urban migration

  • represents new job opportunities, it also removes young people from the safe haven of family and community

  •  exposes them to possible high-risk behaviour associated with dislocation in urban areas. 

opportunities

Education:  Education promotes economic growth though increased productivity, the acquisition of new skills and attitudes, and through the accumulation of knowledge itself The role of education in reducing poverty and income inequality is also well established. Employment opportunities in the future → need for teachers increases  Employment The labour force is increasing by as many as 300,000 per year, and will increase to as many as 400,000 per year in the near future. The garment, tourism, and construction industries are not growing sufficiently quickly to absorb so many new labour market entrants. As a result, the Government’s Rectangular Strategy, details steps to develop the agricultural

Challenges from dividend

Employment  Cambodia faces the challenge of preventing increasing numbers of young people from entering both the informal and illegal economies. Education unevenly distributed in rural and remote areas, where many of Cambodia’s poor and very poor reside.  Costs, including informal fees, are still a barrier and vulnerable groups tend be over-aged or late school entrants. High rates of illiteracy are still evident in the 15-24 age group, especially among girls. Health:   The rural-to-urban migration of young people for employment and education contributes to their exposure to sexual reproductive health risks, including increased risk-taking behaviour associated with HIV infection, and other health development risks, including drug abuse and gender-based violence.

What might the future hold for Cambodia? (Possibilities)

The labour force is increasing by as many as 300,000 per year, and will increase to as many as 400,000 per year in the near future.

Cambodia will not have the capacity to compensate for the increasing numbers of young people entering the workforce annually