IMPACT OF POPULATION GROWTH ON UNEMPLOYMENT IN NIGERIA: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS.
Need help with a related project topic or New topic? Send Us Your Topic
DOWNLOAD THE COMPLETE PROJECT MATERIAL
IMPACT OF POPULATION GROWTH ON UNEMPLOYMENT IN NIGERIA: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS.
Chapter one
1.1 Background of the Study
Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country and the eighth in the world, with an estimated 170 million people, according to the National Population Commission (NPC, 2012).
Furthermore, the country claims the greatest economy in Africa, with GDP figures for 2013 and 2014 of N13, 526.25 and N14, 475.38 billion, respectively (Economic Watch, 2015).
Despite these spectacular achievements, the country still faces several developmental, economic, and political issues, including unemployment, poverty, corruption, income disparity, population growth, and political instability.
Nigeria has a growing population, often known as an increasing population. Nigeria’s population was 88.9 million people at the time of the 1991 census, with a growth rate of roughly 3% and a total fertility rate of about 6%, according to the Post Enumeration Survey.
According to the 2006 Nigerian population census, the country’s population was 140,003,542 (NBS, 2009). The growth rate was then less than 3%, and the population had a propensity to double in fewer than 23 years (Odusina 2013).
The United Nations projected Nigeria’s population to be around 150,003,400, confirming that Nigeria has the biggest population in Africa and ranks seventh among the world’s populous countries (United Nations, 2009).
The population of Nigeria is rapidly increasing. Three key variables contribute to rapid population growth: birth rate, mortality rate, and migration (Yesefu, 2002).
Migration has not contributed to Nigeria’s rapid population growth because the majority of Nigeria’s technocrats, experts, and professionals immigrate to other nations seeking better opportunities (Odusina, 2013).
If the birth rate rises, the population will include a greater share of children and young people. On the other hand, if high population growth is caused by a fall in death rates, adults and the elderly will account for a greater proportion of the total population.
Furthermore, if population growth is caused by substantial net migration, it will account for a considerable proportion of economically active adults aged 15 to 60.
According to the National Demographic Health Survey (NDHS, 2003), the crude birth rate in 1990, 1991, and 2003 was 39.0, 44.6, and 42.0. This demonstrates that Nigeria’s rapid population growth is primarily the result of a high birth rate.
Nigeria’s population has steadily increased throughout time. The population will continue to grow if contraception, family planning, and birth control are used and practiced.
Increasing population is a burden on governments, particularly in less developed nations, and is deemed detrimental to citizens’ living standards and the country’s socioeconomic progress.
Unemployment happens as a result of an insufficient number of jobs to meet the rising population; even those who are working live in fear of being laid off due to job instability, economic slump, and worker retrenchment. (Akiri et al. 2016).
The phrase ‘unemployment’ refers to any idle or underutilised factor of production. Unemployment happens when active and able-bodied males are actively looking for work but are unable to find one.
Underemployment is a type of unemployment that occurs when workers labour at less than full capacity or are not completely utilised in manufacturing.
Unemployment has slowed progress towards sustainable development. Unemployment is more widespread among Nigeria’s youth. Every year, higher institutions produce a huge number of graduates who lack absorption ability in the employment market.
Furthermore, young people are more likely to be employed in low-quality occupations with bad working conditions, low pay, and participation in dangerous activities, or to get short-term informal employment agreements.
Unemployment is seen as a global economic concern and has been identified as a barrier to social and economic growth, particularly in emerging countries, like Nigeria. Unemployment wastes a country’s human resources, reduces social productivity, results in poor income, and raises the cost of living (Umo, 1999).
Youth unemployment has led to a variety of socioeconomic, moral, and political vices, including armed robbery, thuggery, vandalism of government assets, corruption, prostitution, rural-urban migration, a high dependency ratio, frustration, corruption, depression, waste, and underutilization of human resources.
The frequency of unemployment has resulted in the presence of poverty throughout the country. Successive governments have used a variety of ways to address both concerns, but the outcomes have been mixed.
1.2 Statement of Problem
Nigeria faces a combined dilemma of rising population and increasing unemployment. The quantity of jobs available in the labour market is insufficient to meet the burgeoning unemployment rate.
Rapid population growth undermines a country’s economic and social progress. There would be little or no time to align the economy with development objectives.
If population growth is not controlled, it has the potential to erode the benefits of economic development and have severe consequences for citizens’ living standards.
Need help with a related project topic or New topic? Send Us Your Topic