Protests that started as a student movement driven by longstanding dissatisfaction over a quota system to allocate government jobs in Bangladesh have precipitated a change in the country’s political leadership.
These jobs, of which 30% were reserved for independence war veterans and their relatives, are highly sought after. The rate of youth unemployment in Bangladesh is three times higher than the national average and, according to a survey from 2013, around a fifth of students want to work in the public sector.
But the issue of youth unemployment and underemployment is by no means exclusive to Bangladesh. In fact, young people in many low-income countries find decent work hard to come by. A mere one-in-five people aged between 25 and 29 in these countries have a secure job that lasts longer than a year, with a paying employer and a contract.
