The current and future demographic situation depends on the aspirations of young people and their decisions regarding marriage and childbearing.
Protecting decent job opportunities for Jordanians from competition of non-Jordanian workers enhances their chances of marriage.
Youth participation is achieved by surveying their needs and responding to them.
Jordan and the world mark International Youth Day, which falls on August 12 of each year. This year's theme is "Different Circumstances, Shared Aspirations", meaning that young people's lives are shaped by diverse national and local realities, yet their aspirations across different societies are strikingly similar. In various countries and communities, young people strive for a decent life, opportunities, decent work, quality education, and a sustainable future.
This year's theme focuses particularly on young people living in diverse developing countries, who often face interrelated challenges related to low wages and income, limited economic opportunities, and inequality in access to digital technologies. At the same time, these young people continue to demonstrate resilience, leadership, and innovation in driving sustainable development within and beyond their communities.
In this context, UNFPA conducted a survey during 2025–2026 on the future of the world's population, which is among the most comprehensive surveys, based on the views of 108,000 young men and women aged 18 to 39 from 73 countries. The survey gathered information on young people's aspirations towards building their future in a rapidly changing world. It showed that approximately two-thirds of participants expressed optimism about their life paths. However, despite this, they have several concerns related to conflicts, lack of economic security, and inequality.
The survey results also showed that 90% of young people considered financial stability and good health as the most important life goals for them. Additionally, 8 out of 10 young people believe that children bring joy and happiness, which is the most important motivation and fundamental basis for starting a family. Furthermore, more than two-thirds of the young participants consider marriage as the preferred option as a fundamental lifestyle. Financial stability is the most important factor in starting a family, while material challenges and difficulty securing housing represent the most prominent obstacles to marriage.
The results of the global youth aspirations survey coincide with the National Youth Strategy (2026–2030) in Jordan, whose vision is based on building a generation of young people who are "loyal, productive, and influential, contributing to building a sustainable future for Jordan."
§ The swelling numbers of Jordanian youth
Past and present fertility contribute to the continued increase in the number of Jordanian youths of both sexes, as Jordanian society is characterized by a young age structure. Therefore, the annual number of births exceeds the annual number of deaths by six times, due to the young age structure and the continued impact of previous fertility rates. The current proportion of Jordanian youth aged (15-29 years), according to the Civil Status and Passports Department, is about 27% of the total number of Jordanians, equivalent to about 2.4 million young men and women. Meanwhile, Jordanian children under 15 years of age constitute about 30% of the total number of Jordanians, or about 2.6 million children, meaning that the number of youths will remain high in the coming years, as well as the number of births. Data on vital events from the Civil Status and Passports Department show that about 2.9 million Jordanian births were recorded between 2010 and 2025, with an annual average exceeding 180,000 Jordanian births.
The youthfulness of Jordanians results in the numbers of Jordanians entering working age remaining high in the coming years, which requires continued investment in education, training, employment, and preparing the conditions that enable young people to successfully transition to the stage of work, financial independence, and forming their own families.
Despite the large size of the youth population in Jordanian society, the number of marriage contracts registered in recent years has declined. The number of marriages in 2024 reached (62,970 cases) compared to (81,373 cases) registered in 2015. Additionally, the occurrence of 27% of divorces before consummation or the wedding is another indication of young people who have contracted marriage choosing not to proceed with it. Currently, there are about 400,000 young Jordanian men in the age group (25-39 years) who have never been married. This can be attributed to financial challenges and the weak ability to secure housing costs and living expenses for a new independent family.
§ Decent, stable work and fair wages enhance young people's pursuit of marriage
Data from the Labor Force Survey for 2025 indicate the continued existence of high unemployment rates among young people of both sexes, reaching (39%, 69% among young men and women respectively in the age group 20-24 years; and 18%, 38% respectively in the age group 25-29 years). Therefore, we find that the proportion of bachelor’s among unemployed males is 93% in the age group (25-29 years), and 65% in the age group (30-39 years). Regarding the proportion of unmarried females among unemployed women, it reaches 93% in the age group (20-24 years), 77% in the age group (25-29 years), and 46% in the age group (30-39 years). If a young man seeks a working girl to marry, the girl's family tends not to marry her to an unemployed young man or one unable to provide for his family.
Thus, Jordanian youth face challenges affecting their ability to marry, form new families, and build a stable future. Foremost among these are high unemployment rates, as mentioned, weak alignment between education and training outputs and labor market needs, difficulty transitioning after graduation to the labor market, limited opportunities for decent and stable work, competition with non-Jordanian workers, in addition to challenges related to high living and housing costs.
The response to these challenges lies in continuing national efforts to empower Jordanian youth and enhance their ability to achieve their aspirations, by protecting decent and stable job opportunities for them, in accordance with the Jordanian Constitution and the Labor Law regarding ensuring an adequate wage level commensurate with the cost of living, participation in the social protection umbrella provided by the Social Security Law, enhancing alignment between education outputs and labor market needs, developing training and rehabilitation programs and building professional and digital skills, thereby enabling our youth to compete in the local, regional, and international labor market.
