The International Labour Organization has, in their 2016 World Employment and Social Outlook Report revealed that 47% of Ghana’s labour force has been left underutilized.
This is the combined percentage of the working age population, that is unemployed or underemployed and potential workers who are not part of the labour force, that is underemployed and unemployed.
Though the informal economy contributes 50 to 80 per cent of GDP and 60 to 80 per cent of employment, although most of the people employed here are unskilled.
Additionally, Ghana’s working poverty rose from 23.8% in 2007 to 29.7% in 2015.
This shows there has been little improvement since 2007 and the population of the moderately poor, that is working individuals living on $1.9 to $3.10 has also grown.
The figure is projected to reach 30 per cent in 2016 and 30.4 per cent in 2017 buoyed by limited formal job opportunities available to the most vulnerable populations such as the poor, women and youth.
The unemployment rate among women rose to 8.5 per cent in 2015 from 8.4 per cent in 2014, while among men it rose from 6.2 per cent in 2014 to 6.4 per cent in 2015. Youth unemployment also rose to 11.1 per cent in 2015, up from 10.9 per cent in 2014.