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ABSTRACT
In recent years, more than half of the Philippines’ jobless sector comprises the youth. This
warrants the need to identify the constructs and create policy frameworks that would facilitate
employability and entrepreneurship among the Filipino youth. Using the Community Based
Monitor System (CBMS) survey on Accelerated Poverty Profiling among member schools of De
La Salle Philippines, we estimate a multinomial logistic regression that highlights how
demographic characteristics, level of education, and availment of government in-aid programs
influence a youth’s likelihood to be employed or to be entrepreneurial. Our results provide a
framework for policymakers in improving program design and policy implementation targeted
towards youth employment and support for youth entrepreneurial undertakings. Alternative
programs that can increase the youth’s employability and entrepreneurial interest are also
emphasized.
I. Introduction
The aftermath of the global crises of the recent decade resulted to a weak and uneven economic recovery.
The youth continue to be affected by the rate at which the economy recovers. Global youth
unemployment in 2013 reported by the International Labor Organization (ILO) at 74.5 million (a 3.8
million increase from 2007). The figure is equivalent to 13.1 percent – almost thrice as high as the adult
unemployment rate.
The concept of youth is a fluid category rather than a fixed age group. For instance, youth in
Singapore refers to persons 15 to 35 years old. In Ireland, youth are persons aged 10 to 25. In Bangladesh
and Pakistan, youth refer to those who are 18 to 35 years old. Meanwhile, in Haiti, youth are persons aged
10 to 24. In the Philippines, it is defined as those persons with age ranging from 15 to 30 years old
according to the Youth in Nation-Building Act of 1994. The United Nations (UN), on the other hand,
defines youth as those who are 15 to 24 years old. In this study, youth unemployment refers to the share
of the labor force whose ages fall from 15 to 30 without work but available for and seeking employment.
In the Philippines, according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the number
of unemployed Filipino youth accounts for more than half of the Philippines’ jobless sector. According to
the Labor Force Survey (LFS) conducted by the Philippine Statistical Authority (PSA), almost 1.5 million
Filipino youths who belong to the 18-24 age range are jobless. While youth unemployment decreased to
15.7 percent in April 2014 (from 16.8 percent in April 2013), it still accounts for more than half of the 2.9
million unemployed Filipinos in the country. As such, it can be construed that half of unemployment is
likely to go down if youth unemployment is addressed. To address youth unemployment, there is a need
to increase the employability of the youth by providing them access to technical and life skills training
demanded by employers. Likewise, it is also imperative to harness the entrepreneurial propensity of the
youth so that they too can contribute in creating job opportunities in the country.
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This study was funded by the Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKIEBS) and the Community Based Monitoring
System (CBMS) Network under the project entitled Social Protection for the Informal Sector (SPIS) and Youth Employment and
Entrepreneurship (YEE).
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This situation prompts the need to identify which constructs will make the Filipino youth
employable and entrepreneurial. By knowing these facilitating factors to employment and
entrepreneurship, policymakers can create strategies and interventions that can provide the youth with
access to productive and meaningful income-generating opportunities. Currently, the DOLE’s thrust is to
provide the youth who are either currently not working, or have less than a year of work experience, and
who are not enrolled in an educational or training program, or who have at least completed a high school
education, with access to skills training and on-the-job opportunities that would improve their chances of
getting a job. What needs to be emphasized in the Philippines, aside from youth employment, is the
building and fostering of the entrepreneurial mindsets and skills of both the young and disadvantaged
people. With the contemporary constraints in the labor market, entrepreneurship is considered a means to
combat unemployment especially among the youth.
Given this backdrop, we explored how to alleviate youth unemployment through entrepreneurship.
To meet this objective, the study had three major phases. First, an assessment of the extent of youth
unemployment was conducted using the Community Based Monitoring System (CBMS) survey data.
Second, an analysis of the demographics and other characteristics of youth entrepreneurs was undertaken.
Lastly, policy recommendations culled from the second phase were provided in order to reduce
unemployment among the youth through entrepreneurship.
For the first part of the study, the following research question was addressed: “What is the extent
of unemployment among the youth?” The second part of the study had the following question: “How do
demographic characteristics, level of education, and availment of government in-aid programs influence
an individual’s likelihood to be employed or to be entrepreneurial? To address this research question, we
had the following research objectives:
• to estimate the likelihood that an individual will be employed;
• to estimate the likelihood that an individual will engage in entrepreneurship; and,
• to provide recommendations on how to encourage the youth to be entrepreneurs.
The results of the first two sections provided a framework for policymakers in improving
program design and policy implementation targeted towards youth employment and support for youth
entrepreneurial undertakings. We also recommended alternative programs that can increase the youth’s
employability and entrepreneurial interest.
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physician, accountant, midwife, or any person in private practice of his profession with or without a
regular helper is considered operating an enterprise as a business. A fisherman, farmer, carpenter, watch
repairer, etc., working on his own account is also operating as an enterprise. This is also being adopted by
the CBMS census in the Philippines.
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In-aid programs that support employment and entrepreneurship
This subsection is culled from DOLE (2010) and presents the various programs that support
employment and entrepreneurial undertakings by this department.
Bureau of Working Conditions (BWC) Work Improvement in Small Enterprises (WISE).
The WISE Program was cost-shared (from 1994 to 1997) by the United Nations Development Program
(UNDP) and the Philippine government. Technical support was provided by the International Labour
Organization (ILO). It is aimed to improve productivity through low-cost improvements in working
conditions in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Under this project, a large number of small
entrepreneurs and their workers were reached through a mix of training and information activities to link
improvements in working conditions to productivity enhancement. Institutional arrangements were also
developed to sustain the program after the project's completion. It is noteworthy that the WISE was
extended nationwide.
In the more than six years of implementation, the WISE Program has been successful in
generating low cost workplace methods of improving working conditions that have also led to increased
productivity. As reported by DOLE (2010), a total of 352 training courses (98 Comprehensive Courses,
153 Awareness Courses for Entrepreneurs, 93 Awareness Courses for Workers, 2 Trainings of Trainers,
and 6 Follow-up Courses) have been conducted by the Regional Offices (ROs), participated in by 9,894
SMEs nationwide where 5,774 workplace improvements have been implemented.
While a good deal of progress has been made in terms of the number of trainings, follow-up
activities and participants recruited, there is still a need to expand considerably its geographical coverage.
Likewise, the sustainability issues should be addressed through follow-up and impact assessment
activities – continuous monitoring, evaluation and documentation of improvements.
There have been prior and on-going measurement activities on the effectiveness of WISE. Few
activities were conducted with funding assistance from the ILO. The BWC periodically evaluates the
effectiveness of WISE training activities nationwide. Meanwhile, the private sector has been very keen in
knowing recent developments on WISE enabling them to have renewed commitment to intensify their
efforts to propagate WISE.
NWPC ISTIV Bayanihan Program. This subsection is culled from DOLE (n.d.). ISTIV
Bayanihan is a training program and networking intervention for Barangay Micro Business Enterprises
(BMBEs) and other microenterprises that aids the growth of micro-enterprises through the enhancement
of the entrepreneurs’ way of managing the business. Its objectives are: (1) to achieve productivity by
harnessing the Filipino spirit of teamwork (bayanihan) in the workplace based on common and shared
ISTIV values applied to work systems by owners, managers, and workers. Topics included in the program
are: ISTIV values, work systems, marketing, organization, stock control, and bookkeeping. It is delivered
through lectures, discussions, exercises, and workshops spanning two days. At the end of the program,
participants are expected to have improved and developed work systems resulting to increased sales,
reduced cost, and efficient business management.
DILEEP Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program. This subsection is culled from
the DOLE (n.d.).The DILEEP is the DOLE's contribution to the governments’ agenda of inclusive growth
through massive job generation, substantial poverty reduction, and lessening of poors’ vulnerability to
risks. It is implemented either through direct administration by DOLE or through an Accredited Co-
Partner (ACP).
There are two programs under DILEEP: (1) Livelihood or KABUHAYAN Program, which
provides grant assistance for capacity-building on livelihood for the poor, vulnerable, and marginalized
workers; and (2) Emergency Employment or Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced
Workers (TUPAD) Program, which is a community-based package of assistance that provides emergency
employment for displaced workers, underemployed, and unemployed poor, for a minimum period of 10
days, but not to exceed a maximum of 30 days, depending on the nature of work to be performed.
For the KABUHAYAN, it has the following components:
• Kabuhayan Formation. Enabling the unemployed poor, seasonal, and low-waged
workers to start individual livelihood, or collective enterprise undertakings. Individual
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projects shall have a maximum project cost of PHP 10,000.00, depending on the project
requirement;
• Kabuhayan Enhancement. Enabling existing livelihood undertakings to grow into viable
and sustainable businesses that provide income at least at par with those of the minimum
wage earners. Individual project shall have a maximum project cost PHP 15,000.00,
depending on the project requirement;
• Kabuhayan Restoration. Enabling the re-establishment of lost, or damaged, livelihood
due to various risks or occurrence of natural and man-made disasters. Individual projects
shall have a maximum project cost of PHP 10,000.00, depending on the project
requirement;
• Community/Group Enterprise Development. Enabling existing livelihood projects of
groups of beneficiaries to be transformed into community enterprises. A vital
consideration is that the community has access to adequate, if not abundant, source of
raw materials, and has existing skills necessary for its products or services, and access to
local and/or international markets.
The following are the priority beneficiaries of the KABUHAYAN – self-employed workers who
are unable to earn sufficient income; marginalized and landless farmers; unpaid family workers; parents
of child laborers; low-wage and seasonal workers; workers displaced by or to be displaced as a result of
natural and man-made disasters. These beneficiaries are eligible to receive the following assistance
packages:
• Working or start-up capital solely for the purchase of raw materials, equipment, tools and
jigs, and other support services necessary in setting-up the business or enterprise.
• Training on how to plan, set-up, start and operate their livelihood undertaking, such as
training on production skills with entrepreneur ship and business management for
individual projects and training on Business Planning and Management, and Production
Skills for community/group projects.
• Social security through enrolment in the SSS, or PhilHealth, or micro-insurance for the
first three months, included in the total project cost.
• Continuing technical and business advisory services to ensure efficiency, productivity,
and sustainability of the business/enterprise.
For TUPAD, the following are its priority beneficiaries – those who are unemployed or under-
employed; those who were laid-off or terminated as a result of permanent closure of an establishment; and
those who were self-employed and have lost their livelihoods (including farmers and fishermen) because
of natural or man-made disasters. Similarly, these beneficiaries are provided the following assistance
packages:
• Payment of salary equivalent to one hundred percent (100%) of the prevailing private
sector minimum wage in the area/locality;
• Coverage under group micro-insurance for the duration of the work contract to be
shouldered by DOLE;
• Personal protective equipment (PPE) such as hardhat, work gloves, mask, rubber boots,
and long-sleeved TUPAD t-shirt which shall be mandatory in high-risk and hazardous
works;
• Basic orientation on safety and health; and
• Free skills training, which the workers may avail on a voluntary basis, to prepare them
towards self or wage-employment.
Special Program for the Employment of Students (SPES). The SPES is mandated under
Republic Act (R.A.) No. 9547, known as “An act to help poor but deserving students pursue their
education by encouraging their employment during summer and/or Christmas vacations, through
incentives granted to employers, allowing them to pay only sixty per centum of their salaries or wages
and the forty per centum through education vouchers to be paid by the government, prohibiting and
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penalizing the filing of fraudulent and fictitious claims, and for other purposes”. It is mandated to develop
the intellectual capabilities poor families’ children and harness their potentials for the country's well-
being. Specifically, it aims to help poor but deserving students pursue their education by providing
income or augment their income through encouraging their employment during summer and/or Christmas
vacations. It is open to all qualified high school, college, vocational students, drop-outs, and interested
employers.
Youth Entrepreneurship Support (YES) Project. This is a project under the Working Youth
Center (WYC) Program that aims to put the youth at the center of development. It envisions the young
college and technical-vocational graduating students, college graduates, or soon-to-be participants in the
labor force as productive, resourceful, and self-reliant entrepreneurs. It is an enabler to reinvigorate the
hopes and dreams of would-be entrants to the labor force. It has the following developmental objectives:
• to mobilize the college and technical-vocational graduates to become young
entrepreneurs thereby generating income and jobs in the countryside;
• to meet the employment needs of young graduates through a comprehensive and coherent
package of entrepreneurship-related services that will contribute to uplifting their living
conditions;
• to help raise the quality of life of households and increase household economic worth by
unleashing youth entrepreneurship potentials in innovative community-based business
ventures; and,
• to intensify enterprise development through collaboration and partnership between the
DOLE and the educational institutions in preparing college and technical-vocational
graduating students and graduates for business undertakings.
In its recent implementation, a total of 114 individuals were provided funding support for 25
livelihood and entrepreneurship undertakings from the 33 DOLE ACPs for this project. To get consensus
in cooperating with the YES Project, DOLE ROs met with the local government units (LGUs) through
their public employment service offices (PESOs), the target partner educational institutions (EI), such as
the state colleges and universities (SUCs), private educational institutions (PEIs), technical vocational
institutions (TechVocs), private individuals and property owners, and other possible partners. Then, a
Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) may be executed to signal the forging of partnerships, which will
include the commitment of cooperation, the time of key personnel to be deployed or assigned to the
project, and the commitment of other resource counterparts. The partners shall state in the MOA that the
EI shall serve as the accredited co-partner and shall guide their graduating students or graduates in
preparing the business plan, before recommending it to DOLE for approval. The EI shall also supervise
and monitor their students’ or graduates’ YES project implementation.
Youth Education – Youth Employability (YE-YE). This is DOLE’s project addressing the
education-to-employment (E2E) needs of the youth which envisions them as educated, endowed with
proper work habits, disciplined and highly employable. Its objectives are the following: (1) to address the
needs of the disadvantaged youth to pursue an academic or technical-vocational, post-secondary course
towards becoming more employable and more productive members of the labor force; (2) to support
human capital build-up by providing the youth some workplace experience while studying; and (3) to
develop among the youth proper work values and ethics through exposure to formal workplace situations
and challenges under responsible adult supervision.
In this project, DOLE shall collaborate with companies and schools; and sign a MOA obligating
companies to provide the youth opportunities to pursue a post-secondary course through tuition fee
advances while being afforded formal workplace experiences using DOLE-prescribed topics on work
attitudes and ethics which include the values of hard work, patience, savings, self-reliance, self-discipline,
respect for the rights of others, work safety and health, housekeeping, efficient use of meager resources
and productivity. After which, an initial interview and selection of youth beneficiaries will be conducted.
The concerned DOLE Regional or Field Office with jurisdiction over the area where the partner company
operates shall conduct this undertaking, guided by the project’s definition of a “disadvantaged youth”.
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Those who are qualified to participate are disadvantaged youth who are: 15 to 24 years of age;
out-of-school or unskilled; or from the informal economy or from a low income family; or an ex-child
laborer or member of a working youth organization; a high school graduate or its equivalent as
determined by the Bureau of Alternative Learning System (BALS) who intends to enroll in a post-
secondary course, whether academic or technical-vocational; or an enrolled student in an academic or
technical-vocational, post-secondary course. After screening, the youth will identify his preferred
educational institution and determine the amount of tuition fee and other school expenses that may be
incurred on per semester basis while the partner company will coordinate with the selected educational
institution on its payment of tuition fee in favor of the youth and payable by him or her to the partner
company without interest. The youth will then render service in the company as payment for the tuition
fees shouldered by the company. As such, the youth is entitled to a “service stipend” from which the
tuition fee will be charged.
1 y= j
yj = { (2)
0 y≠ j
Thus, yj equals one if alternative j is the observed outcome and the remaining yk equal zero, so for each
observation on y, exactly one of y1, y2, …, ym will be nonzero. The multinomial density for one
observation can be conveniently written as:
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m
y1 ym y
f ( y ) = p × ... × p
1 m = ∏ pj j (3)
j =1
For regression models, introduce a subscript i for the ith individual and regressors xi. Specify a
model for the probability that individual i chooses the jth alternative,
The functional form for multinomial logit represented by Fj should be such that probabilities lie between 0
and 1 and sum over j to one.
The multinomial density for one observation is shown in Equation 3. The likelihood function for
a sample of N independent observations is given by:
N m y
LN = ∏i =1 ∏ j =1 pij ij (5)
where the subscript i denotes the ith of N individuals and the subscript j denotes the jth of m alternatives.
The log-likelihood function is given by:
N m
ℓ = ln LN = ∑∑ yij ln pij (6)
i =1 j =1
where pij = Fj(xi, β) is a multinomial logit probability function of parameters β and regressors defined in
3.4 and the maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) is used to estimate the parameters. Hence, the first
order conditions for the MLE β are that it solves
N m y ∂p
∂ℓ ij ij
= ∑∑ =0 (7)
∂β i =1 j =1 pij ∂β
The usual asymptotic theory applies and the variance matrix is minus the inverse of the
information matrix. Differentiating the double summation in Equation 7 with respect to β’ and using E[yij]
= pij yields upon Equation 8. For the details of the derivations, refer to Cameron and Trivedi (2005).
−1
⎡ ⎛ 1 ∂pij ∂pij ∂ 2 pij ⎞ ⎤
β ~ N ⎢β 0 , ⎜ ∑∑ − | β ⎟ ⎥ (8)
⎢ ⎜⎝ pij ∂β ∂β ' ∂β∂β ' 0 ⎟⎠ ⎥
⎣ ⎦
Equation 8 is correct provided that observations are independent over i, there is no need to use
more general sandwich form of the variance matrix since that data are definitely multinomial distributed
and the information matrix equality will hold (Cameron & Trivedi, 2005).
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Model Specification
From the discussion above, we represent our multinomial logistic regression model through
Equation 9. As mentioned earlier, we used CBMS Accelerated Poverty Profiling dataset. It was conducted
in 2013 whose samples are individuals from the different schools of De La Salle Philippines (DLSP). The
roster includes: (1) DLS – College of St. Benilde, (2) DLSU – Dasmarinas, (3) DLSU – Manila, (4) De
La Salle Lipa, (5) La Salle University – Ozamiz, and (6) University of St. La Salle – Bago. The survey
provides information on household and member demographics, income, and expenditures, as well as the
availment of government- and private- sponsored programs.
2
According to Tullao, Cortez, and See (2007), migrant worker refers to a person who is to be engaged, is engaged or has been engaged in a
remunerated activity in a state of which he or she is not a legal resident; to be used interchangeably with Overseas Filipino Worker per Republic
Act (RA) 8042 also known as the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995.
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6), 0 otherwise.
EDJHSUi assumes a value of 1 if individual i is a junior high school undergraduate
(Grades 7-10), 0 otherwise.
EDSHSUi assumes a value of 1 if individual i is a senior high school undergraduate
(Grades 11-12), 0 otherwise.
EDTECVi assumes a value of 1 if individual i is enrolled in a technical and vocational
course, 0 otherwise.
EDCOLUi assumes a value of 1 if individual i is a college undergraduate, 0 otherwise.
EDPOSTi assumes a value of 1 if individual i is enrolled in a post-graduate studies
(Master's or Doctoral), 0 otherwise.
EDELMGi assumes a value of 1 if individual i is an elementary graduate (Grade 6), 0
otherwise.
EDUHSGi assumes a value of 1 if individual i is a high school graduate (Grade 12), 0
otherwise.
EDCOLGi assumes a value of 1 if individual i is a college graduate, 0 otherwise.
EDPOSGi assumes a value of 1 if individual i is a Master’s or Doctoral degree holder, 0
otherwise.
EDUNGCi is the base category and assumes a value of 1 if individual i has no grade
completed, completed Day Care, Nursery, Kindergarten, Preparatory levels, 0 otherwise.
A dummy variable indicating whether an individual availed of the BWC KAPATIRAN
AVWISEi
WISE-TAV program. It assumes a value of 1 if the program was availed and 0 otherwise.
A dummy variable indicating whether an individual availed of the NWPC ISTIV
AVNWPCi
Bayanihan program. It assumes a value of 1 if the program was availed and 0 otherwise.
A dummy variable indicating whether an individual availed of the DILEEP – Livelihood
AVDPLKi or Kabuhayan program. It assumes a value of 1 if the program was availed and 0
otherwise.
A dummy variable indicating whether an individual availed of the DILEEP – Emergency
AVDPEEi
Employment program. It assumes a value of 1 if the program was availed and 0 otherwise.
A dummy variable indicating whether an individual availed of the Special Program for the
AVSPESi Employment of Students. It assumes a value of 1 if the program was availed and 0
otherwise.
A dummy variable indicating whether an individual availed of the Youth Entrepreneurship
AVYESPi
Support program. It assumes a value of 1 if the program was availed and 0 otherwise.
A dummy variable indicating whether an individual availed of the Youth Education –
AVYEYEi Youth Employability program. It assumes a value of 1 if the program was availed and 0
otherwise.
Stochastic disturbance terms for Equations 9, 10, 11, and 14 respectively that captures all
ε i, ν i, φ i, ζ i
other variables that were not included in the econometric model.
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Aside from endogeneity, heteroscedasticity also arises with the estimation of Equations 10 and 11.
Heteroscedasticity exists by the fact that we are utilizing a cross-sectional data. According to Gujarati &
Porter (2009), heteroscedasticity does not cause ordinary least squares (OLS) coefficient estimates to be
biased, although it can cause OLS estimates of the variance of the coefficients to be biased, possibly
above or below the population variance. Therefore, regression analysis using heteroscedastic data still
provides an unbiased estimate for the relationship between the exogenous and endogenous variables.
However, standard errors and inferences obtained from data analysis are spurious. Consequently, biased
standard errors lead to biased inference, so results of hypothesis tests might be wrong.
To address this econometric problem, the CBMS survey is subjected to the Generalized Method
of Moments (GMM) estimation methodology to analyze the statistical significance of the various
educational attainment and age on cash wage. According to Baum, Schaffer, and Stillman (2003), the
usual approach today when facing heteroscedasticity of unknown form is to use GMM introduced by
Hansen (1982), which makes use of the orthogonality conditions to allow for efficient estimation in the
presence of heteroscedasticity of unknown form. Also, many standard estimators, including the
Instrumental Variable (IV) and OLS are deemed as special cases of GMM estimators. Hence, in the
presence of heteroscedasticity, the GMM estimator is more efficient (Baum, Schaffer, & Stillman, 2003).
Another reason why the GMM estimation technique is preferred is because of its robustness to
differences in the specification of the data generating process (DGP) and it also automatically addresses
endogeneity. According to Greene (2003), under GMM, a sample mean or variance estimates its
population counterpart regardless of the underlying process. GMM provides this freedom from
distributional assumptions, such as the normality assumption under OLS that has made this method more
appealing. However, it must be noted that this comes at a cost because if more is known about the DGP
such as its specific distribution, then the method of moments may not make use of all of the available
information. Hence, the natural estimators of the parameters of the distribution based on the sample mean
and variance becomes inefficient. Thus, the method of maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) is the
alternative approach which utilizes this out of sample information and provides more efficient estimates
(Greene, 2003).
Descriptive Statistics
Among the youth sample with identified job status, Table 2 shows that almost 96 percent of the
youth have no work and no business. It can be inferred that they are either in school or activey looking for
a job. Of the approximately 4 percent of the youth with work, more than half (64%) are seasonally
employed while approximately 33 percent are permanently employed. Meanwhile, a meager 1 percent are
engaged in entrepreneurial activities. It can be seen that the youth are more inclined to being employed
rather than being employers.
Table 3 presents a youth sample that is dominated by females (56.83%). Of the females with
work, majority are seasonally employed (59.85%). The same is true for males with work, majority are
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also seasonally employed (67.11%). Similar to Table 2, more than 90 percent of the youth has no work
and no business. Probably, they are either in school or activey looking for a job.
In Table 4, we created a structural break in the age range. From 15 to 30, we split it to 15 to 23
(new college graduates) and 24 to 30 (young adults). For both age groups, there is also a significant
proportion of youth sample without work and without business. One possibility is that they are either in
school (still in basic education or college or pursuing graduate studies) or activey looking for a job
(unemployed). We can also observe that for those with work, those in the lower age bracket are mostly
seasonally employed while those in the higher age bracket are mostly with permanent and seasonal
employment.
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Table 5 shows that majority of the youth in our sample are single (71.74%) in terms of marital
status and of those with work, most of them are seasonally employed (67.44%). The youth in the “others”
category are either widowed or separated. Still, a significant majority are without work nor business.
Table 6 shows trivial results. Practically every one of the youth sample (99.70%) are non-OFWs.
Of those who have work, they are seasonally employed (64.08%). It is also interesting to note that there is
already an incidence of temporary labor migration among this segment of the population. Indeed, working
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abroad is seen here as a solution to the inadequate employment opportunities in the domestic labor market.
Moreover, of those who have work as OFWs, 75 percent of them are also seasonally employed most
likely on a contractual basis, which is the current situation among OFWs.
It can be seen from Table 7 that the sample contains mostly of youth with high school
undergraduate (33.32%), high school graduate (24.24%), and college undergraduate (17.95%) as highest
educational attainment. Across all categories of highest educational attainment, the youth with work is
either permanently or seasonally employed. A very small proportion of the sample are actually engaged in
entrepreneurial activities. It can be implied that the youth are more inclined to being employed rather than
being entrepreneurial.
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Short-term, seasonal, casual employment 20 76.92
Worked on different jobs on day to day or week to week 1 3.85
Without work, with business 9 2.83
Without work, without business 283 88.99
High School Graduate (Senior High School) 2,440 24.14
With work 98 4.02
Permanent employment 29 29.59
Short-term, seasonal, casual employment 66 67.35
Worked on different jobs on day to day or week to week 3 3.06
Without work, with business 25 1.02
Without work, without business 2,317 94.96
College Graduate 694 6.87
With work 49 7.06
Permanent employment 22 44.90
Short-term, seasonal, casual employment 27 55.10
Worked on different jobs on day to day or week to week 0 0.00
Without work, with business 15 2.16
Without work, without business 630 90.78
With Post Graduate Degree (Master’s/Doctoral) 0 0.00
With work 0 0.00
Permanent employment 0 0.00
Short-term, seasonal, casual employment 0 0.00
Worked on different jobs on day to day or week to week 0 0.00
Without work, with business 0 0.00
Without work, without business 0 0.00
No Grade Completed, Others, Unknown 643 6.35
Total 10,108 100.00
Table 8 shows the distribution of members of the youth who availed of various programs related
to employment and entrepreneurship. Across all programs, most youth samples did not avail of the
various selected programs and there is an insignificant number of youth sample that have availed.
Moreover, of those who did not avail, most of them have no work and no business.
Table 9 indicates that the highest average cash wage arises from different job status and
entrepreneurial indicator. There is also a significant difference between the mean cash wage of being
employed and being entrepreneurial. This can explain the preference of the youth towards employment
relative to starting their own business. Being an employee has its own pros and cons. An employee has a
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relatively low amount of risk because he/she is only responsible for his/her work responsibilities during
the designated business hours. This form of employment is ideal for an individual who wants a higher
degree of stability and predictability within his/her career. Meanwhile, for those who thrive under high
pressure situation, being an entrepreneur may be advantageous. The entrepreneur would be accountable
for all of the financial costs, business risks, and personal risks that come with an enterprise’s start up and
operations. An entrepreneur’s day never ends in order to develop ways to improve the business.
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Table 10. Marginal Effects after Multinomial Logistic Regression (Equation 9)
Marginal effects for each outcome
Variables With work Without work, with Without work, without
(1) business (2) business (3)
Predicted
0.2659 0.0194 0.7148
Probability
MALEHHMi 0.1729^ 0.0085 -0.1815^
OFWHHMi 0.2348^ 0.0129 -0.2477^
CVSSINi -0.0515 -0.0050 0.0566
CVSMARi -0.0146 0.0003 0.0143
CSHWGEi* 0.0000^ 0.0000 -0.0000^
^ Statistically significant at the 1 percent
* Statistically significant at the 5 percent
~ Statistically significant at the 10 percent
On the other hand, Table 12 shows the marginal effects after performing MLE for our
multinomial logistic regression model shown in Equation 14. It can be seen that programs related to the
provision of assistance packages reduces the probability that a youth would be employed or engaged in
entrepreneurial activities. However, the provision and availment of such programs increases the
probability of having no work, no business. This may be indicative of the breeding of a “culture of
dependency” (Sebastian, 2014) among Filipinos especially the poor. The culture of dependency is
propagated once beneficiaries are conditioned that availment of in-aid programs is an entitlement
resulting to disregard for personal growth as an outcome of hardwork and diligence.
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Table 12. Marginal Effects after Multinomial Logistic Regression (Equation 14)
Marginal effects for each outcome
Variables Without work, Without work,
With work (1)
with business (2) without business (3)
AVWISEi -0.0600^ -0.0622^ 0.1222^
AVNWPCi -0.0610^ -0.0621^ 0.1231^
AVDPLKi -0.0610^ -0.0622^ 0.1232^
AVDPEEi -0.0608^ -0.0619^ 0.1228^
AVSPESi -0.0463^ -0.0364^ 0.0827^
AVYESPi -0.0463^ -0.0364^ 0.0827^
AVYEYEi -0.0457^ -0.0360^ 0.0817^
^ Statistically significant at the 1 percent
* Statistically significant at the 5 percent
~ Statistically significant at the 10 percent
V. Conclusion
The number of unemployed youth accounts for more than of the Philippine’s jobless sector. Although
youth unemployment has decreased from 16.8% in April 2014 to 15.7% in April 2013, the number still
accounts for more than half of the 2.9 million unemployed Filipinos in the country. For the youth aged 15
to 30 who have identifiable jobs, most (232 out of 360) of them work in short-term, seasonal and casual
employment and only a handful (87 out of 10,108) are entrepreneurs. This situation holds true for both
genders, age brackets of 15-to-23 and 24-to-30, civil status, OFWs and non-OFWs and across most
highest educational attainment (except for college and postgraduate degree holders who are more likely to
have permanent employment).
For those who have permanent employment, this brings about the highest mean cash wage at
78,242.27 followed by both short-term, seasonal, and casual employment (47,564.13), and entrepreneurial
activities (48,376.92). Working on different jobs on day to day or week to week results to a mean cash
wage of 34,350.00 which is 43,000 lower than what one would get, on average, in a permanent job.
The government has provided a number of programs to facilitate both employment and
entrepreneurship but provision of assistance packages significantly reduces the probability that a youth
would be employed or engaged in entrepreneurial activities. Also these programs have positively
increased the likelihood of being jobless and having no business at the same time. These programs could
possibly be more effective if their focus is on more long-term and sustainable activities rather than one-
time seminars or seasonal employment opportunities whose effects are only felt in the short-term.
The results have also shown that both education and age are facilitating factors in acquiring
employment but not in fostering entrepreneurship. The levels of entrepreneurship are low because higher
cash wages, on average, are brought about by permanent employment. Since this study emphasizes the
importance of entrepreneurship in economic prosperity and wealth creation, there is a need to increase the
participation of the youth in government-sponsored programs that foster the entrepreneurial spirit. The
various entrepreneurship programs of the government must have wider breadth and scope to reach the
youth while they are still in school. The Accountancy, Business and Management Strand of the Senior
High School Program of the Department of Education is a good avenue for the government to market and
implement its entrepreneurship programs. Those who are not in school can be reached by TESDA or
through their barangay officials. The reach of the programs must be maximized to further ensure the
harnessing of the entrepreneurial mindset which will lead to successful and sustainable youth
entrepreneurs.
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