Impact of youth unemployment on liveihood among young people in Mukono District
| dc.contributor.author | Rebecca Kobusingye | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-09-02T06:49:31Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-09-02T06:49:31Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2026-06-11 | |
| dc.description | Undergraduate | |
| dc.description.abstract | This study investigated the relationship between youth unemployment trends and youth livelihoods within Mukono District, focusing on Mukono Municipality and Gombe Sub-county as contrasting urban and rural case sites. The study was driven by three specific objectives: evaluating local youth underemployment trends, mapping alternative informal livelihood survival strategies, and examining the reach of existing institutional and non-governmental socioeconomic interventions. Using a mixed-methods research design, quantitative data was gathered from a structured sample of 30 unemployed youth using 5-point Likert scale questionnaires, while qualitative data was captured via 7 Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) with local labor administrators and 7 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with youth cohorts. Quantitative data was processed using descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations) via SPSS Version 26.0, while qualitative text was handled through thematic analysis. The descriptive empirical findings revealed a severe, systemic deficit in formal labor market absorption, evidenced by a high baseline unemployment trend composite mean score. The single highest barrier identified by respondents was structural financial constraints, specifically a lack of initial start-up capital. Methodological evaluation of local livelihood outcomes revealed an inverse relationship between earnings stability and survival tactics; respondents strongly rejected the notion that their daily cash flow was stable enough to anchor basic household needs, driving an overwhelming, absolute reliance on highly volatile informal hustle, such as roadside retail vending and leased boda-boda operations. This high-risk exposure resulted in a broad deterioration of household standards of living. Qualitative triangulation revealed that existing institutional safety nets, including the Parish Development Model (PDM) and local NGO vocational training clinics, are severely limited by low fund pooling and low intake capacities, leaving the vast majority of local youth to navigate structural poverty independently. The study concludes that youth unemployment in Mukono District is fundamentally a structural crisis of underemployment and capital exclusion rather than a mere lack of labor interest. The study recommends that the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, alongside the Mukono District Local Government, should restructure youth empowerment funds by removing rigid bureaucratic requirements, expanding low-interest credit access, and shifting focus from short-term theoretical workshops toward long-term subsidization of youth-led informal manufacturing and artisan collectives. | |
| dc.description.sponsorship | Under graduate | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12311/3603 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | Uganda Christian University | |
| dc.title | Impact of youth unemployment on liveihood among young people in Mukono District | |
| dc.type | Dissertation |