Authors: Oluwaseun. M. Adesina
Abstract: Youth unemployment constitutes one of the most persistent structural challenges facing contemporary Nigeria. Beyond economic deprivation, prolonged unemployment produces a condition of uncertainty, delayed adulthood, and emotional strain among young people. While existing scholarship has examined the economic and policy dimensions of youth unemployment, less attention has been paid to how unemployed youth interpret their condition and sustain hope, particularly within religious contexts. Drawing on survey data collected from unemployed Nigerian youth aged 18–35 across selected urban centers (N ≈ 500), this study examines the role of religious engagement in shaping the social meaning of unemployment and what is conceptualized as the politics of hope. Anchored in the sociology of religion and theories of temporality, the article demonstrates that religious engagement significantly predicts higher levels of hope and psychological well-being, even after controlling for unemployment duration and socio-demographic factors. The findings suggest that religion functions as both an emotional buffer and a moral framework that transforms unemployment into purposeful waiting, while simultaneously raising critical questions about the depoliticization of structural inequality.
