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Social and Economic Factors Influencing youth unemployment to Crime in the Wa Municipality, Ghana

Volume: 4  ,  Issue: 1 , May    Published Date: 19 May 2018
Publisher Name: IJRP
Views: 1149  ,  Download: 610

Authors

# Author Name
1 Stephen Ameyaw

Abstract

Abstract
The level of youth unemployment is highly dependent on the overall status of the nations’
economy in the world. The recent economic recession of Ghana led to the unavailability of jobs
influencing the unemployed youth to crime. The recent embargo by the IMF escalated the
situation prodding the unemployed youth to channel their energies into fruitless ventures. This
rendered the youth to be unemployed, making it difficult to afford a three square meal daily.
In the Wa Municipality, the youth are always seen under trees charting and gambling at a broad
day light. Poverty among the youth influenced majority (80%) to commit a crime in order to
earn money for survival. The study sought to investigate the social and economic factors
influencing the unemployed youth to crime. Convergent parallel mixed method design was
used to solicit impregnable information from the respondents. Quantitative and Qualitative data
were employed where questionnaires and interview guides were utilized. The study revealed
among others that poor parental care, peer influence, elder siblings influence, parents’
economic hardship, fear of poverty trait are the socioeconomic factors influencing the
unemployed youth to crime. The study concluded that the horrendous socio-economic factors
influencing the unemployed youth to crime are gradually turning the municipality into an
aquarium of sharks where personal security is unguaranteed. The study recommends that
confiscating IMF embargo on employment and educating guardians and parents on the need to
provide for the unemployed youth till they are employed will eke out the basic needs of the
youth.
 

Keywords

  • Youth
  • Unemployment
  • Poverty
  • Social
  • Economic
  • Crime