Youth in Algeria: a Social Category in Constant Transformation

Almost 9,000 young people aged 16 to 30 were interviewed in Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, Jordan, Lebanon (Lebanese and Syrian refugees), Morocco, Palestine, and Tunisia. The results offer fascinating insights into their approach to life, their self-perception, and their view of the future.

At the end of 2021, following this first study, a quantitative survey was carried out in the field to report about young people in twelve countries of the Middle East and North Africa and to update the initial data. In Algeria, this survey reached a sample of over 1,000 young Algerians aged 16-30 and generated a large database of responses to around 200 questions about the personal context of the respondents and their responses on a variety of topics.

The analysis prepared by sociologist Khadidja Boussaïd attempts to report on the results of this database, which provides quantitative elements to describe the socio-economic situation of young people and their political perception, but also gives elements of perspective with the projections of these young people, particularly on future issues concerning society and migration.

The analysis of the socio-economic situation of young people revealed that almost half of the young people interviewed consider their economic situation to be good, thus placing them in an upper middle class. According to the author of the study, this class gap, particularly between the upper and lower middle classes, shows a process of impoverishment of the latter since 2014 with the fall in oil prices, and with the Covid-19 crisis in 2020, which impacted most respondents according to the survey. 

In terms of the distribution of wealth between generations, most young respondents believe that the distribution of wealth and access to resources benefits the older generation more.

Regarding interest in politics, the survey shows that only five per cent of the young people interviewed said they were very interested in politics, 13 per cent said they were interested, 24 per cent were somewhat interested, and 58 said they were not interested. According to the author, these figures express a distrust of political structures, with only 3 per cent of the sample in the study being structured in a party.

In conclusion, the author explains that despite the role played by primary institutions (the family, peer groups) and secondary institutions (the religious and associative spheres) in enabling young people to achieve sufficient social inclusion to fulfil some of their expectations, young people remain a vulnerable category that seeks spaces for expression beyond the difficulties they encounter in their daily lives. These spaces may be informal, such as migration or community withdrawal.

Nevertheless, youth remain a living social category in constant transformation, as the factors influencing its trajectories are multiple. For a country like Algeria, it represents a demographic force and a class with high economic potential. Investing in young people through targeted public policies is the guarantee of a real springboard for national development.

For more information on the Friedrich Ebert Foundation's Regional Youth Study and the study on youth in Algeria, please visit: https://mena.fes.de/topics/youth-study