The gendered effects of labour market experiences on marriage timing in Egypt

Salem, Rania

doi:10.4054/demres.2016.35.11

Cited by 15 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Upon completing their education, successful transition to work is an important step towards full adulthood for young men in MENA ( Assaad, Binzel, and Gadallah 2010 ; Dhillon and Yousef 2009 ; Salem 2016 ). In contrast, a large percentage of Egyptian women never work ( Assaad and El Hamidi 2009 ; Roushdy and Selwaness 2015 ), so entering paid employment is not an expected step in young women’s transition to adulthood.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In contrast, a large percentage of Egyptian women never work ( Assaad and El Hamidi 2009 ; Roushdy and Selwaness 2015 ), so entering paid employment is not an expected step in young women’s transition to adulthood. Many women who do work view this as a temporary activity during the period between finishing school and getting married ( Amin and Al-Bassusi 2004 ; Barsoum 2004 ), but employment nevertheless has no impact on women’s likelihood of marrying ( Salem 2016 ). Our results reflect some of these varied expectations for young people’s labor market participation by gender.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Marriage is the marker of full adulthood status for both young men and women in Egypt ( Salem 2016 ; Singerman 2007 ). Our results indicate that marriage is protective for young men, but is unrelated to changes in mental health for young women, and that entering marriage is associated with a significant improvement in young men’s mental health, particularly for the oldest age group.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This argument builds on a larger literature dedicated to the phenomenon of ‘waithood’ in MENA, a period of delayed transition to full adulthood as young people struggle to attain relevant education, obtain a good job, and meet the financial requirements of forming a family ( Dhillon and Yousef 2009 ). 5 Although a wide literature has addressed the challenges that young people face in their transitions from education to work and marriage in MENA ( Amer 2014 , 2015 ; Assaad, Binzel, and Gadallah 2010 ; Dhillon and Yousef 2009 ; Roushdy and Selwaness 2015 ; Salem 2016 ; Singerman 2007 ), this literature has focused almost exclusively on socioeconomic outcomes and has engaged little, if at all, with the developmental aspects of the transition to adulthood and life course theory. Very little is known about young people’s psychosocial well-being within the context of delayed transitions to adulthood in the region.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The cost of this dwelling, combined with the bride’s trousseau and celebrations, means that families spend an average of 61,200 Egyptian pounds on a marriage ( Salem 2015 ), which was approximately three times annual GDP per capita in 2012. 6 The bulk of these expenditures fall on young men and their natal families ( Salem 2016 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The mental health of youth and young adults during the transition to adulthood in Egypt

Liu¹,

Modrek²,

Sieverding³

2017

DemRes

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BACKGROUND There has been growing interest in the stalled transition to adulthood in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and its consequences for young people’s socioeconomic outcomes. However, little is known about how important life transitions relate to youth psychosocial well-being in the region. OBJECTIVE Drawing on a life course framework, we estimate the associations between making transitions in education, employment, and marriage with changes in mental health among young people in Egypt. METHODS We descriptively analyze mental health scores, measured via the Self-Reporting Questionnaire-20 and disaggregated by gender, for a panel of young people first surveyed in 2009 at ages 13–29 and followed up in late 2013 and early 2014. We regress change in mental health scores against indicators of making different transitions. RESULTS Young women experience worse mental health than young men overall. Lower school achievement was associated with poorer mental health; being out of the labor force was an additional risk factor for young men. While average mental health scores improved over time, over a quarter of the sample experienced worsening mental health, related to failure to marry and find a job among older men, and failure to finish schooling among younger women. CONCLUSIONS Mental health is an important but often overlooked component of youth well-being during the transition to adulthood in MENA, and potentially other low- and middle-income countries. CONTRIBUTION This is the first paper to empirically examine the relationship between psychosocial well-being and achieving important socioeconomic milestones among a nationally representative cohort of young people in MENA.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%