Devonald, M., Jones, N., Hamory, J., & Yadete, W. (2021). Betwixt and between: Adolescent transitions and social policy lacunae in Ethiopia. Childhood Vulnerability Journal, 1-21.
Overview: This article explores the transitions of adolescents from childhood to adulthood in Ethiopia, focusing on social, cultural, and structural contexts. It analyses the social policy landscape and challenges faced by adolescents during early adulthood and waithood.
Methodology: This paper uses data from the 2018 GAGE multi-country longitudinal study, involving 20,000 adolescents aged 10-19, to study factors affecting adolescent transitions into adulthood. The study includes 6,826 quantitative and 240 qualitative data, with a subset of adolescents with disabilities and early married status.
Findings: The authors state that adolescent girls often experience early adulthood due to social and gender norms that value early marriage and childbearing. Ethiopia has high rates of child labour, particularly for boys, which can result in early school leaving and poor psychosocial outcomes. Rapid urbanisation and socio-economic and cultural shifts have driven social policy initiatives to lift many Ethiopians out of poverty. However, these economic developments are only benefiting certain parts of the population, particularly in rural areas, which contributes to the experiences of ‘waithood’. Prioritising education has had positive impacts on enrolment rates, with primary school students increasing from 3 to 21 million in 20 years, resulting in an expansion of opportunities for many adolescents.
The 2004 National Youth Policy of Ethiopia lacks age disaggregation, focusing on youth aged 15-29, which doesn’t account for the different needs of young people at different stages of their transition. Ethiopia’s Growth and Transformation Plan II aims to accelerate growth and become a middle-income country by 2025, but it doesn’t adequately address the unique challenges faced by those experiencing waithood and needing support for adulthood. Additionally, age restrictions for paid work are often not enforced, and domestic work is not governed by Ethiopian labour legislation.
Conclusion and recommendations: Social policies are failing adolescents at both ends of the spectrum, with those forced into early adulthood and those lacking the skills and resources to move into adulthood not being adequately supported. To address these challenges, coordinating mechanisms and age-disaggregated policies are needed. Comprehensive age and gender-responsive social protection, adolescent-friendly health, mental health, and violence prevention schemes are needed, along with targeted substance abuse services. Schools and universities should equip adolescents with employment skills and connect them with employers. Improving access and awareness of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is also beneficial. Community and parental outreach sessions should highlight the benefits of formal and technical education over child labour and marriage.
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