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Patterns of Unemployment

Dequan Holder

Mackenzie High School

Caribbean Studies

Sir Jonathan Adams

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IN PART FULFILMENT OF THE CARIBBEAN

STUDIES SYLLABUS FOR CARIBBEAN ADVANCED

PROFICIENCY EXAMINATIONS (CAPE)

FOR THE YEAR 2020-2021

Topic: Patterns of Unemployment; Causes and Effects

Centre Name: Mackenzie High School

Name of Candidate: Dequan Holder

Candidate Number:0900320222

Teacher: Mr. Jonathan Adams

Year of Examination: 2021

Theme; The Workplace

Centre Number:090032

Territory: Guyana
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Acknowledgement

The researcher would like to express gratitude to those who assisted her in completing

this research project. Thanks to God for giving me health, strength, and wisdom, to my Aunt and

my teacher Sir Jonathan Adams for his guidance.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................. 1
Theme...................................................................................................................................... 1
Sub-theme................................................................................................................................ 1
Problem Statement....................................................................................................................1
Purpose of Research..................................................................................................................1
Statement of the Problem.......................................................................................................... 1
Research Questions................................................................................................................... 2
Educational Value of Research..................................................................................................2
Definition of Key terms............................................................................................................. 2
Literature Review......................................................................................................................... 4
Data Collection Sources................................................................................................................6
Data Collection Instrument...........................................................................................................7
Presentation of Data................................................................................................................... 11
Analysis of Data.......................................................................................................................... 14
Discussion of Findings................................................................................................................ 15
Conclusion................................................................................................................................. 16
Limitation.................................................................................................................................. 17
Recommendation........................................................................................................................ 18
Bibliography.............................................................................................................................. 19
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Introduction

Theme
The workplace

Sub-theme
Patterns of unemployment

Problem Statement
“An investigation of how COVID-19 has contributed to unemployment in Central

Amelia’s Ward, Guyana.”

Purpose of Research
This study is being conducted to determine whether COVID-19 has contributed to

the incidence unemployment in Central Amelia’s Ward, Guyana.

Statement of the Problem

The onset of COVID-19 in Guyana has resulted in 4.13% of individuals losing

their jobs permanently whereas 9.26% lost their jobs temporarily and an overall increase

in the unemployment rate occurred (Socio-Economic Impact Assessment of COVID-19

on Households in Guyana, 2020). This research is being conducted to discern whether the

international data relates to Central Amelia’s Ward Mackenzie, Linden; this is in

administrative region ten in the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.

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Research Questions

1. What factors account for the occurrence of unemployment in Amelia’s Ward?

2. Has Coronavirus contributed to unemployment in Amelia’s Ward?

3. How does unemployment impact a community?

4. What are strategies that may be used to eradicate unemployment in the Amelia’s Ward

Community?

5. Would reparative justice minimize the impacts of the pandemic?

Educational Value of Research

The results from this study can be used by the Mayor and members of the

Regional Democratic Council (RDC) to create strategies to alleviate unemployment in

Central Amelia’s Ward and Linden at large. They also provide a wealth of knowledge on

the subject Coronavirus and unemployment since it has never been covered in Central

Amelia’s Ward.

Definition of Key terms

 Unemployment - when a person who is actively searching for employment is

unable to find work.

 Community - a group of people living in the same place or having a particular

characteristic in common.

 Coronavirus Disease (COVID 19) - is an infectious disease caused by a newly

discovered Coronavirus.
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 ARNN - Auto Regressive Neural Network

 ANN - Artificial Neural Networks. Basically.

 SVM – Support Vector Machines

 ARIMA - The Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA)

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Literature Review
Over the past 10 or so years the unemployment rate in Guyana has risen ("Guyana

unemployment rate 2021," n.d.). This is especially the case in far-flung areas such as

Linden, leading many residents to leave the area for employment resulting in brain drain

(Singh, 1981) Unemployment is more prominent among our youth after completion of

studies (Axelrad et al., 2018), and according to Albanesi and Sahin (2013), the gender

unemployment gap is non-existent.

Additionally, research studies have linked unemployment to technological

changes, competition, education and training, relocation subsidies and decrease or

removal of employment benefits (Clark & Lepinteur, 2019; Schaufeli, 1988; Singh, 1981;

Valadakhani, 2003). However, lately there has been an addition to the list “The Corona-

virus” (Manjula Bai, 2020; Blustein et al., 2020). Moreover, this spike was predicted by

many scholars while the Coronavirus was at the endemic phase. These studies were

carried out in developing countries using hybrid models based on ARIMA and ARNN,

ANN, and SVM models. (Ahmad et al., 2021; Ivanov, 1998). This data has been used to

predict the economic impact of the Coronavirus globally.

The occurrence of unemployment in a community can both hinder and promote its

development. Although most scholars agree that unemployment hinders development

mainly because it promotes crime and deviance to obtain income (Gabrisch & Buscher,

2005; Raphael, Steven & Winter-Ebmer, 1998). These scholars have analyzed this issue

through the eyes of a Marxist. Moreover, those who gleaned more from the functionalists

disagree with this inference, stating that unemployment promotes entrepreneurship and

thus, provides additional sources of employment (Gabrisch & Buscher, 2005).

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Consequently, many have begun the analysis and exploration into strategies that

might alleviate the growing issue of unemployment. Some ways to reduce unemployment

are to pursue the smaller size families, put measures in place to reduce rural-urban drift,

develop sub-urban areas, provide rural infrastructure, services and education, develop a

technology-driven growth strategy that is more inclusive, develop a two-pronged strategy

focusing on the private and public sectors, provide enabling environment for the private

sector to thrive (Eneh, 2017). However, as suggested by total employment is mythical

and unreachable fantasy that every nation strives to achieve (Jones, 1992).
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Data Collection Sources

The researcher employed the quantitative methodology. A questionnaire was

created as the primary source of data gathering with several preset questions utilized.

Open-ended or fixed choice types of questions were used to obtain quantitative data. The

researcher finds this method to be advantageous; since they are easy to administer, data

can be easily tabulated, measured, and analyzed; lastly, they are time and cost-effective.

The researcher’s scholarly articles should be websites, peer review journals and

newspaper articles to conduct a literature review, which contributed to the understanding

of the problem.

The community of Central Amelia’s Ward consists of approximately ten (10)

streets which have fifteen houses. Each house on each street was numbered (1-15) and

five numbers were selected for each street and were given questionnaires.
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Data Collection Instrument

Lot 2684 Church Lane

Central Amelia’s Ward

Mackenzie, Linden

7th January 2021

Dear Respondent,

I Dequan Holder am an Upper sixth form student at Mackenzie High School. I

humbly seek your permission to participate in this research process. This research is

conducted for my Caribbean Studies Internal Assessment (IA) for Caribbean Advanced

Proficiency Examinations. This is an investigation of how COVID-19 has contributed to

unemployment in Central Amelia’s Ward, Guyana.

The information gathered from you will not be used against you or cause harm.

This is a voluntary process; therefore, you can choose to stop at any time, and there are

no consequences for your decision in this.

Yours Respectfully,

Dequan Holder
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Questionnaire

1) What is your sex?

Male

Female

2) What ethnic group do you belong to?

African

East Indian

Chinese

Amerindian

Portuguese

Mixed

3) What religious sect do you belong to?

Christian

Hindu

Muslim

4) What age category do you fall under?

18-29 yrs.

30-39 yrs.

40-49 yrs.

50-60 yrs.

5) Are you employed?

Yes

No
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6) (If you answered yes to the previous question) What is your occupation?

Doctor

Lawyer

Teacher

Laborer

7) Do you think that unemployment is an issue in Central Amelia’s Ward?

Yes

No

8) (If you answered yes to the previous question) Which sex, do you think is more

affected by unemployment?

Males

Females

9) Which do you think is the cause of unemployment in your community?

Lack of job vacancies

Lack of skills and qualifications

Due to the corona-virus pandemic

Lack of interest in being employed.

10) In your opinion which age group represents most unemployed individuals?

18 - 29 yrs. old

30 – 39 yrs. old

40 - 49 yrs. old

50 – 60 yrs. old

11) In your opinion which ethnic group represents the most unemployed individuals?
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Africans

East Indians

Chinese

Portuguese

Amerindian

Mixed

12) Does the prevalence of unemployment impact your community?

Yes

No

13) (If you answered yes to the previous question) How does it impact your

community?

Positively

Negatively

14) In your opinion does unemployment hinder the development of a community.

Yes

No

15) (If you answered yes to the previous question) How does it affect development?

what strategies can be put in place to alleviate unemployment?

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Presentation of Data

Co lum n g rap h sho wing resp o n d ents o pin io n s o n

th e p resen ce o f u n emp lo ym en t in th e co mm u nity .

40
No. of responses

35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Yes No
Response

Column1

Figure one: Column graph showing respondents opinions on the presence of

unemployment in the community.

Figure Two: Funnel graph showing the causes of unemployment.

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Bar graph showing the sex of un-

employed residents.

Females
Responses

Males

23 23.5 24 24.5 25 25.5 26

No. of respondent

Bar graph showing the sex of unemployed residents.

Figure Three: Bar graph showing the sex of unemployed residents.

Figure Four: Histogram showing the age groups of unemployed residents.

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: Pie chart showing the type of impact unemployment

has on a community.
Positively
20%

Negatively
80%

Negatively Positively

Figure Five: Pie chart showing the type of impact unemployment has on a community.

Do u gh n u t ch art sh o win g the effects o f u n -

emp lo y men t o n co m mu n ity d ev elo p men t

Hinders
develop-
ment
26%

Promotes
development
74%

Promotes development Hinders development

Figure Six: Doughnut chart showing the effects of unemployment on community

development.
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Analysis of Data

With reference to figure 80% of the respondents believed unemployment while

the remaining 20% disagreed,

Figure two illustrates that the coronavirus is the leading cause of unemployment

at 44%, with lack of skills and qualification 34%, lack of job availability/vacancies 20%

and lack of interest 2%.

Figure three stated that 48% of the individuals unemployed were females and the

remaining 52% consisted of males, this expresses the difficulty that men have securing a

job.

Figure four stated that 40% of the individuals unemployed were between the ages

of 18-29 years, 40% between 30-39 years, 14% between 40-49 years and 6% between 50-

60 years.

Figure five suggests 80% believed that unemployment impacts the community
negatively and 20% positively.
As expressed by figure six 39% of the respondents believed unemployment could

not hinder community development and the remaining 61% believed it could.

.
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Discussion of Findings

The results obtained from this research indicate that unemployment is a problem

faced by the residents of Central Amelia’s Ward. Moreover, the leading cause of this

spike in unemployment in the community is the unprecedented occurrence of the

coronavirus pandemic. These results coincide with those made by Ahmad., et al (2021),

which stated that the pandemic has caused an increase in the unemployment rate. The

effects of the pandemic on employment globally were predicted by Manjula Bai and

Ivanov (2020; 2020) and those very predictions have manifested. According to Albanesi

and 2013 a gender gap does not exist in unemployment. However, the results obtained

dismissed this claim: and indicated that men have a harder time securing a job compared

to females. This indicates that the gender gap in unemployment is still existent, however,

the tables have turned.

Additionally, those severely affected the youth within the community which comprise

mostly males of African descent. According to Axelrad et al., 2018 this is due to the

unavailability of jobs for youths who have recently completed studies and training.

Additionally, due to a lack of experience many are declined when they send out

applications. Furthermore, the residents all agreed that unemployment can impact their

community negatively. According to Nichols et al., 2013 unemployment leads

individuals to find other sources of income that are commonly against the law, thus.

increasing the crime rate, contributing to poverty, and hindering development within the

community. However, Gabrisch & Buscher 2005) begs to differ stating that high

unemployment rates lead to entrepreneurship and the creation of jobs.

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Conclusion

The results obtained suggested a strong linkage between the Coronavirus, lack of skills

and qualifications and the incidence of unemployment. Additionally, the Coronavirus has

caused a significant increase in unemployment more so among young adults (30-39) in

Central Amelia’s Ward. Consequently, negatively impacting the community, by increasing

crime and deviance while stagnating development. According to the functionalist high

unemployment rates serve as a motivational factor to citizens. Consequently, driving them

start their own businesses and in turn create jobs for others.
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Limitation

Whilst conducting this research quite a few challenges arose however this did not

deter the researcher. One challenge incurred was the inability to obtain literature directly

on the Caribbean region, leading to the usage of international rather than regional

sources. Another challenge illiteracy of some respondents in answering the questionnaire

this caused questionnaires to be distributed elsewhere than planned in the community.

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Recommendation

To alleviate the occurrence of unemployment a series of strategies can be put in place,

which include:

★ The introduction of training centers to equip individuals with the skills needed for

specific jobs.

★ Reduction of cost of education at tertiary institutions to encourage furthering of citizens

education to meet qualification criteria.

★ The availability of small business loans encourages entrepreneurship, thus creating jobs.

★ Provision of volunteer programs that would allow individuals to garner experience in a

variety of areas.
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Bibliography

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19 on unemployment rate: An intelligent based unemployment rate prediction in selected

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https://doi.org/10.1002/ijfe.2434

Albanesi, S., & Sahin, A. (2013). The gender unemployment gap. SSRN Electronic Journal, 30,

47-67. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2261979

Axelrad, H., Malul, M., & Luski, I. (2018). Unemployment among younger and older

individuals: does conventional data about unemployment tell us the whole story?

Journal for Labor Market Research, 52(3), 1-3. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12651-018-

0237-9

Blustein, D. L., Duffy, R., Ferreira, J. A., Cohen-Scali, V., Cinamon, R. G., & Allan, B. A.

(2020). Unemployment in the time of COVID-19: A research agenda. Journal of

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