Global Social Sciences Review (GSSR) Vol. IV, No. II (Spring 2019) | Page: 27 – 33 Factors Affecting Duration of Unemployment among Young Graduates of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (An Approach to Duration Analysis) Atta ur Rahman Associate Professor, Institute of Management Sciences, Peshawar, KP, Pakistan. Email: attaurrahman@imsciences.edu.pk Adnan Khan Research Scholar, Institute of Management Sciences, Peshawar, KP, Pakistan. Waseef Jamal Assistant Professor, Institute of Management Sciences, Peshawar, KP, Pakistan. The study was designed to calculate the waiting time for employment for graduates in KP with respect to their level of education and specialization in the field. Contribution of demographic, socioeconomic status, language proficiency, job preferences, job search methods and nepotisms was also measured regarding thewaiting time for employment. Responses of 791 respondents collected through multi-stage non-probability sampling were analyzed with the help of the well-known Kaplan Meier and Cox regression models and Cox proportional hazard models. The study concluded that a graduate waited for 15 months to be employed during the period 2003-2014. Age, language proficiency, level of education, specialization, language proficiency, nepotism and socio economic factors have significant influence on waiting time for employment. The study recommends the development of integrated frame work for information about trends of unemployment, career counseling and elimination of unemployment at national level. Introduction Unemployment, as defined by the International Labor Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have been actively looking for work within the past four weeks. Unemployment has emerged as a burning issue in the current economic scenario, not only for the underdeveloped countries but also for the developed countries. This common issue is however effected by different factors in every country. Although unemployment is a natural phenomenon however this phenomena become a problem when the duration of unemployment for any individual becomes too long. Therefore, addressing of this issue require significant amount of research that has been conducted in various parts of the globe. In this regard the study aspires to explore unemployment from durational point of view where the researchers aim to explore those factors which affect the duration of unemployment in Pakistan with a particular focus on the area of KP. During 2012-13 the population of Pakistan is estimated at 184.35 million growing at an annual growth rate of 2%. Of the total population, 60.52 million (32.1%) are in labor force. The Kavkler et al. (2009) calculated the unemployment duration for 5 different European countries in which minimum duration of unemployment is 254 days for Austria and maximum of 478 days for Slovenia. The other countries included in the list are Romania, Macedonia and Croatia with unemployment duration of 264, 353 and 455 days respectively. Gender, age and education level are the most important factors identified in the Kavkler et al. (2009) study which influence the unemployment duration. It is important to search for determining social, physical, economic, regional, demographic factors in this respect. This study aims to determine the duration of unemployment experienced by university graduates in KP Pakistan after completion of their final degree. The study will consider various factors including age, sex, and region, degree of belonging, economic status, social status, and level of education while evaluating the reasons for the duration of unemployment. Literature Review The conceptual base of this study rests on the concepts of unemployment which explore the factors of the duration of unemployment. The abundance of literature available indicates the critical repercussions of unemployment issues for the economic and social development of a nation. This section provides a critical assessment of the significant studies in this area. Key Words Unemployment, Kaplan Meier, Cox regression p-ISSN 2520-0348 | e-ISSN 2616-793X | L-ISSN 2616-793X | DOI: 10.31703/gssr.2019(IV-II).04 | URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.31703/gssr.2019(IV-II).04 Abstract