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Since the 1960s, Egypt has sought to increase equality in access to higher education. Data show that completion of pre-tertiary education has become more equal. However, this trend toward equality did not extend to higher education. Rather, entry to higher education has become more unequal during this period, principally due to tracking at the secondary level. Secondary track is highly correlated with wealth: students from the poorest families overwhelming attend technical education; most children from wealthy families attend general (academic) secondary. Lucas (2001) has called this relationship between wealth and tracking “Effectively Maintained Inequality.”

Similar to other developing nations, Egypt is experiencing a “youth bulge,” or increase in the proportion of young persons in the population. Individuals aged 29 years or younger compose approximately 62 percent of the Egyptian population; persons aged 10–29 years, nearly 40 percent (Population Council, 2011). Based on these statistics, the development and well-being of this segment of the population have become central topics during discussions of the future prosperity of Egypt (Population Council, 2010b). This chapter provides an overview of the ecology and political economy of Egyptian youth’s development during the transition from the twentieth to the twenty-first century. The chapter also examines issues related to education, poverty, health, opportunity structures, and challenges associated with social mobility.