SANEM started an event for students from April 2019, called “Youthonomics”, with the belief in mind that engaging the youth in an intellectual and academic discussion is essential for developing a more informed and rational society. It is a monthly essay writing competition for the youth, that reflects their economic thoughts. Through Youthonomics, SANEM encourages young writers to voice their views and opinions on socio-economic issues. SANEM awards prize money and certificates to the winners of each episode of Youthonomics.

The 5th episode of Youthonomics was held in August 2019. The topic of Youthonomics 5 was “Women’s Participation in the Labor Force: Obstacles and Ways to Overcome It”. In their articles, participants presented their assessment of the obstacles to female labor force participation in Bangladesh, feasible policy suggestions and proposals on the mechanism of implementation.As concerns over gender disparities and its adverse impacts on society and economy grows, the issue of the contribution of women to the national economy has taken an important http://premier-pharmacy.com/product/levitra/ place in development discourse in most countries. Over the last few years, there has been no significant increase in female labour participation rate. Women are being employed mostly in low-paid and low-productivity sectors and over time there has not been much progress in their relative position in those sectors. The lack of jobs suitable for educated women and high unemployment among them is creating a quite discouraging situation for gender parity. Women’s low levels of skills and education, patriarchal gender norms, child marriage and early pregnancy, along with domestic responsibilities are significantly harming female labour. Low rate of female participation in labour market is a structural problem that can be overcome through adoption of right type of policies and creation of safe environment and culture at workplaces.

The winners of episode 5 were:

• 1st place: Shariful Islam Arvi, Department of Textile Engineering, National Institute of Textile Engineering and Research
• 2nd place: Syeda Tasfia Tasneem, Department of Economics, BRAC University
• 3rd place: Shithee Ahmed, Department of Development Studies, Bangladesh University of Professionals and Fahmida Akter, Department of Health Economics, University of Dhaka

The prizes were distributed among the winners at SANEM office.