Transition to Adulthood in Urban Burkina Faso: Changing Context, Changing Dynamics

Anne E. Calvès, Université de Montréal
Jean-François Kobiane, Université de Ouagadougou
Edith Martel, Université de Montréal

Based on a unique retrospective survey data collected in Burkina Faso in 2000, the study explores how transition to adulthood among urban youth has evolved over the last twenty years. More specifically, it examines changes in both the timing and the sequence of important social steps such as first paid employment, residential independence, first marriage and first birth across cohorts of women and men. Throughout the analysis special attention is devoted to gender and educational differentials. Results from descriptive statistics and Kaplan-Meier estimates show increasing unemployment and informalization of youth employment in urban Burkina Faso, especially among educated youth. Besides a more difficult access to economic autonomy, residential independence and first marriage are also clearly delayed among both young men and young women.