Young People in Egypt: Current Situation and Life Changes over a 13-year period

I. Project Summary The Survey of Young People in Egypt (SYPE) is a nationally representative longitudinal survey that examines changes in various aspects of young people’s lives over time. The survey offers policymakers a unique opportunity to make evidence-based decisions that address young people’s needs and aspirations and provides researchers with a powerful data source to examine the causes and consequences of various interventions and outcomes. The first round of SYPE was conducted in 2009 (in the immediate aftermath of the global financial crisis) and the second round was conducted in 2014 (after the Egyptian revolution) – offering policymakers and researchers a unique and valuable trove of data on the lives of young people in Egypt before and after the Revolution. Results of the two rounds have been widely used to formulate policies and programs for young people in Egypt. Thirteen years after the original survey was conducted, we now have a unique opportunity to take another look at how the lives of the young people interviewed in 2009 (when they were aged 10-29 years) and reinterviewed in 2014 (when they aged 14-34 year)1 have continued to evolve. SYPE 2022 will return to the same cohort of young people who participated in SYPE 2009 and 2014 and who were 10-29 years old in 2009. In 2022 those men and women are currently aged 22-42 years. In addition, SYPE 2022 will interview a fresh sample of young people 10-21. When this sample is added to the panel sample which is currently aged 22-42, we will have a sample of approximately 14,000 men and women aged 10-42. Additionally, SYPE 2022 will include a sample of young people with physical disabilities (YPWPD) aged 10-29 who have not been interviewed before. Since SYPE examines transitions to adulthood it is important to start as early as age 10 as many of the events that impact adulthood start in the very early adolescence (e.g., FGM/C, discrimination between boys and girls and others). Drawing on the Council’s research on early adolescence, including children as young as 10 years is important to capture life events which may have a significant impact on individuals health and wellbeing in adult years.