Pressures of ‘making it’ for young Kenyan men

Most Kenyan youths live under the gloom of economic uncertainty which leads to hopelessness. This has been against a backdrop of multiple interventions from the government and other stakeholders. Regardless, the subject of youth and livelihoods has endured massive interest within Kenya, with the youth bulge described as an ‘opportunity’ and a ‘ticking time bomb’ in some quarters.

What cannot be understated however is that the conversations are often single sided focusing on youth unemployment which leads to other conversation son how young men find themselves in crime. A less talked about group is the youthful middle class and the challenges they face since their issues take a backseat as the government focuses on dealing with crime and unemployment. 

In this episode, we hosted Dr. Peter Lockwood who is a political economist and research fellow at the University of Manchester and has done research on the issues facing the youths in Kenya to give us a better perspective. More details about Peter’s work can be found by following this link ⁠https://www.graduateinstitute.ch/discover-institute/peter-lockwood-0⁠