Public Sector Can Reduce Push Factors That Drive Youth Emigration - Ifi Research And Policy Memo #2

Research and Policy Memo #2 | January 2009 Public Sector Can Reduce Push Factors that Drive Youth Emigration Jad Chaaban Young men and women prefer to leave Lebanon either temporarily or permanently to work abroad, leading to a decline in the country’s human capital and welfare. While the factors that attract youth abroad cannot be altered, the onus rests on public institutions in Lebanon to reduce the internal “push” factors that drive youth away. “The Lebanese population’s age pyramid shows a shrinking trend in the 20-35 age categories,” said Jad Chaaban, a leading economist and researcher on Arab youth, at a recent seminar at the American University of Beirut. Most of the youth who migrate to North America and Europe are highskilled and have been through more than 13 years of schooling, constituting the widespread “brain drain” phenomenon.