The state of youth poverty and inequality in metropolitan cities A case study of Douala in Cameroon

Abstract

Migrants account for about 53.6 per cent of the residents in the Douala metropolis, with most of them expecting a salaried job in a situation where job opportunities are scarce. As a consequence, there is high unemployment, a concentration of migrant workers in the informal sector of the economy and poorly paid jobs. It was discovered that about 91 per cent of the youth from the different regions of Cameroon who are living in Douala earn a wage that is below the poverty line. The study results show that only 9 per cent and 13.3 per cent of them are unemployed and students, respectively; therefore, 68.7 per cent are the working poor. Internal migration streams of youth in Cameroon to the Douala metropolis is a navigation of young men between two poverty zones, from higher intensity of poverty (rural areas, semi-urban areas) to another area of high poverty intensity (the metropolis).