<mark>remaining age groups decreased in the refugee population compared to pre‐crisis Syria. The pattern is similar for male refugees. Men under 20 represent 59 percent of the male refugee population, compared to 47.6 percent in 2010. Young adult males seem to be missing from the refugee population as the proportion of young adult male refugees is lower than their share in the population of Syria in 2010: 8.2 percent of Syrian male refugees are between 20 and 24 years old compared to 10.4 percent in Syria in 2010. The reduction in the share of males ages 20–24, 2.2 percentage points, compares to a 1.3 percentage point decrease in the proportion of female refugees in the same age group.</mark>

# Refugee Education

<mark>The Government of Jordan opened its schools and health services to refugees living in the communities. Nevertheless, many Syrian children remain outside school and numbers were highest in the years just after their arrival. The proportion of Syrian school‐age children enrolled in formal education was 53 percent in 2014, up from 44 percent in 2013 (UNHCR 2014). Household poverty is one of the reasons behind these low enrollment figures. However, boys and girls face different barriers to staying in school. UNICEF (2017) reports that for boys, child labor, school violence, and the high costs of schooling (for transportation and stationery supplies) are the main barriers to their enrollment. For girls, barriers include the distance to the nearest school, the high cost of transportation, the need to help with household chores, health problems, and families refusing to educate their daughters. According to the JD‐HV database, the most common reasons parents gave for their children not attending school were financial constraints (35 percent), lack of capacity in schools (29 percent), or that children were required to work to support their family (14 percent). By 2016, the enrolment rate of Syrian refugee school‐age children in Jordan was 83 percent, 54 percent in formal education, and 29 percent in nonformal education (World Bank 2017b).</mark><sup>10</sup> Refugee Employment <mark>It has been hard for refugees to find work in Jordan. The slowdown in growth in Jordan pre‐dates the arrival of Syrian refugees and the economy has been increasingly unable to absorb new labor market entrants. Between 2010 and 2016, labor force inactivity increased, employment decreased, and unemployment increased in Jordan (Malaeb and Wahba, 2018). To work legally in Jordan, refugees must have a work permit (Verme et al 2016). However, there is a list of professional jobs, including physicians, engineers, teachers, and workers in the services sector, that can only be done by Jordanian nationals (ILO 2015). Since the agreement of the Jordan Compact in 2016, the Government of Jordan has taken steps to open formal employment opportunities for Syrians. It has waived the fees required to obtain a work permit for Syrian refugees in a number of occupations open to foreign workers and simplified the documentation requirements. These measures have encouraged employers to regularize their workers;</mark>

> 10 Nonformal education services include catch‐up courses, dropout and basic literacy programs, and learning support services offered in Makani Centers of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) (UNICEF 2017). The Makani Centers are multifunctional spaces providing learning support, psychosocial support, and a safe environment with opportunities for play.

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