Determinants of Youth Unemployment in Ecuador in 2019

This work studies the social and demographic factors that influenced youth unemployment in the age group from 18 to 29 years old in Ecuador in 2019. The study includes logistic regression models with marginal effects to evaluate the probability of being unemployed. The results reveal that being a woman and afro, living in an urban area, and increasing the years of education raise the probability of being unemployed in the age group from 18 to 29 years old, while the probability is reduced by being a head of household or son-in-law/sister-in-law and not being single. The study shows that the Ecuadorian population faces vulnerability in the labor market, where differences in gender, ethnicity, and social factors determine the unemployment level. In particular, being “Afro-Ecuadorian, mulatto, or Black” highly increases the probability of being unemployed in Ecuador.