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Paper short abstract:

In Africa, young migrants desire to have good quality jobs in the city, but unfortunately, they are only able to work in precarious employments within the urban informal economy. We provide evidence that youth migrants endure bad working conditions because of their imagined futures in the city.

Paper long abstract:

Young people migrate to cities with aspirations of having better lives and tapping into numerous economic opportunities. Many of these youths, however, end up working in precarious employment in the informal economy. This paper explores how youth migrants negotiate their livelihoods within the urban informal economy by determinative factors affecting their career choices. Additionally, we review the employment aspirations of these youth in the city in comparison to their actual employment experience in the informal economy. This paper proposes two main arguments. The first argument is that the employment-related aspirations of youth migrants before migration do not always match their employment experience in the urban informal economy, which leads to an aspiration gap. The second argument is that youth migrants will endure precarious employment because of their imagined future in the city. Drawing from qualitative data collected from 20 youths (15-35 years) in Makoko, Lagos, the study reveals that the condition of work in the informal economy is often characterised by long work hours, low wages, and exploitation, leaving young migrants disillusioned about city life. This frustration with their employment situation often makes these youths change jobs frequently, hoping to find better quality jobs in the city someday. The paper concludes that we need specially targeted employment support for youth migrants because they are very likely to settle for any kind of job in the city for survival’s sake.