Born to be exported? Youth in Lebanon, rupture between education and employment

Abstract

The lack of job opportunities for the young has been a defining feature of Lebanon since its creation, but in the postcivil war era (after 1990) the situation has worsened with the neoliberal transformations that have encouraged the so-called jobless growth, the services sector and sectarian clientelism. This article examines the conditions of youth marginalisation by studying the relationship between structural changes, education, youth employment and migration in Lebanon based on the results of the SAHWA Project (ethnographic fieldwork and survey) carried out in three of the country's regions in 2015. As a result, it argues that structural inequalities and those in the access to quality education have led to social reproduction, limited the opportunities for social mobility and deepened the marginalisation of youth. Hence, more than a mismatch between education and employment, in Lebanon there seems to be a complete rupture between the two. © CIDOB (Barcelona Centre for International Affairs).