Title: Youth Unemployment And The Rise Of Informal Economies: A Sociological Perspective On Development In Urban Nigeria
Authors: Lilian O. Itoje-Akpokiniovo
Volume: 9
Issue: 6
Pages: 82-90
Publication Date: 2025/06/28
Abstract:
The study attempts to establish the key interrelationship between youth unemployment and the growth of informal economies in an urban Nigerian setting, thereby applying a sociological lens with which to analyze the structural and institutional factors shaping livelihood strategies. With a dearth of formal employment opportunities, young Nigerians are increasingly left in the informal side of the economy: street vending, commercial transportation, freelance work, or artisanal work. The study, which used a qualitative research design with in-depth interviews of four urban youth engaged in informal work, has surfaced key themes such as barriers to formal employment, perceived empowerment through informal activities, and vulnerabilities associated with such work. The findings show that informal employment provides the youth with flexibility, feeling empowered or independent, and instant gratification of income; otherwise, informal employment exposes youth to exploitation, insecurity, and social stigmatization. Structural drivers include limited provision for education, access to capital, and labor market discrimination; such factors thus stand as major causes to youth unemployment and informality. While the study concludes in general terms that the informal economy, although undesirable, is an adaptive response to institutional failure and must, therefore, be considered as part of the more wide-ranging development policies, it agrees that inclusive skills training, fostering of informal enterprises, stronger social protection systems, and structural reforms to eliminate systematic barriers to formal employment should be the main policy objectives. The study thus joins the discourse on youth