“We Are Not a Burden!”
Young people in Dakar feel that they have no assigned social place. They interpret their common condition as a lack of consideration that they could overcome by emigrating. But what does it mean to be “insignificant" or “without consideration" for the youth of the capital? In this article, we will focus on the forms of contributions of the younger generation within their households that seem to be rendered invisible and/or insignificant by their elders. Contrary to the majority’s collective representations, young people are neither inactive nor objectively burdensome for their families. But the combination of two factors —the importance of money and the prerogatives that the elders want to keep— tends to reduce to a simple “social debt" what young people try to undertake (efforts, activities, etc.) to create a place for themselves or a form of recognition at the household level.