What Somali households are telling us about jobs, aspirations, and opportunity

As dusk settles over Mogadishu, shop lights glow along busy streets. Tuk-tuks weave through traffic, families finish their shopping, and the city hums with familiar life. At first glance, it feels like any other night. Yet, beneath this everyday rhythm lies a more complex reality. Across Somalia, families have spent the past year coping with drought, rising prices, and limited access to basic services. For millions, daily life has required constant adjustment, especially to people’s jobs, the availability of opportunities, and ways to plan for the future.

To better understand how people navigate these realities, we conducted a phone-based survey, in partnership with the Somali National Bureau of Statistics. In two waves between April and August 2025, each survey interviewed 3,000 households across cities, rural areas, and nomadic communities.

Our analysis of the surveys offers a window into how they earn a living, what they aspire to, and what stands in their way. The findings show a population navigating tight constraints with adaptability and ambition. They also highlight a simple truth. Jobs do not emerge from aspiration alone. They depend on the conditions that connect people to markets, allow businesses to grow, and create demand for labor.

Jobs in a context of persistent hardship

Material hardship remains widespread in Somalia. More than four in ten households consider themselves poor, and food insecurity affects a majority of households, particularly among rural, nomadic, and displaced populations. This context shapes how people approach work and income. When survival is uncertain, households often prioritize coping over longer term opportunity.

Yet even under these constraints, most households are actively trying to earn. Just over two thirds of household’s report having some form of employment income. Employment is more common in urban areas and among better off households, reflecting stronger access to markets, services, and paid work opportunities. Where these foundations exist, households are more likely to connect to jobs.

When jobs are missing, households cope

For households without employment income, the data reveal a fragile set of coping strategies. Borrowing (debt) is the most common source of income when jobs are unavailable, cutting across both urban and rural areas. Other strategies vary by location. Non-urban households rely more on previous agricultural income, zakat (charity), and savings, while urban households turn more often to remittances, aid, and income from past employment.

Consider the case of Guled Abdi Yabarow’s household in rural Bay, his wife and six children. They consider themselves extremely poor and often go hungry. No one in the household undertook any work in the seven days before the survey, and they relied on borrowing to meet basic needs. This experience illustrates how quickly the absence of jobs can translate into vulnerability.

Inequality in how households manage risk

Differences become sharper across socioeconomic groups. Poorer households are far more likely to rely on debt, zakat, and assistance, while better off households draw on savings, remittances, and previous employment income. Households with more resources can smooth shocks and wait for opportunities. Poorer households cannot. Without access to stable jobs, poorer households remain trapped in cycles of vulnerability and indebtedness. This is a major jobs challenge and helps explain why insecurity persists, even when households are working.

Local economies shape job options

Community level economic activity adds another layer. About half of respondents report that the main activity in their community involves market work, livestock, or running a business. In rural Bay and other non-urban areas, livestock remains central. Urban communities are more oriented toward wage employment and small enterprises. Poorer households are more likely to report working for other households, suggesting limited access to capital and fewer opportunities for independent income generation. Where markets are shallow, jobs are often informal, low paying, and insecure.

How norms and social barriers shape access to jobs

The survey also sheds light on how people think about work in Somalia. Nearly half of respondents believe men should be prioritized for jobs when work is scarce, a view more common among non-urban, less educated, and poorer respondents. At the same time, most agree that families are better off when women take primary responsibility for care work.

These norms influence who participates in the labor market and how opportunities are distributed. When asked about barriers to employment, the most common answer is simple: There are not enough jobs. Social barriers also play a role. Clan related barriers are reported by a substantial share of respondents, particularly among men, urban residents, and better educated households. Even when skills exist, access to opportunity is not guaranteed.

Aspirations remain high: Somalis dream of working in the private sector

Despite constraints, aspirations are strikingly strong. Many respondents dream of working in the private sector or running their own business. Younger and better educated Somalis more often aspire to government or international organization jobs, while those with less education tend toward self-employment. Earnings are the main motivation, but not the only one. Independence, interest in the work, and being one’s own boss also matter. People want jobs that offer dignity as well as income. The biggest barrier to achieving these aspirations is money, alongside limited connections and motivation.

Guled dreams of owning a business so he can earn more and improve his family’s future. Without access to finance, human capital, or markets, this aspiration remains out of reach.