Young Kuwaitis restless in welfare haven

“Some people here have the best life, but others do not,” said 34-year-old law researcher Abrar Al Mugahwi. “It is about what is relative.”

She said she is fed up with people using their family connections to jump waiting lists for benefits such as housing and says education is substandard.

“When I look at league tables for schools, Qatar is always near the top and Kuwait right near the bottom — maybe in place 100. We know we are richer than other countries in the region, so why is this?”

Like many protesters, she voiced a fear about the future of the country, which while fiscally sound for now, depends on oil for more than 90 per cent of its revenues and has struggled to diversify its economy for years.

A long-running row between the government and parliament has stalled implementation of major parts of a 30-billion-dinar (Dh389.61 billion) development plan announced in 2010, including projects to build a refinery, a new airport and hospitals.

“I know that oil will end one day, but for now we only eat and drink and live without action. But what will happen afterwards?” Abrar said.

Tensions between the government and opposition groups have intensified, triggering protests, but Kuwait has been spared the kind of severe unrest that toppled three veteran Arab leaders in 2011. It boasts the most open political system in the Gulf.

Last year, to mark three major anniversaries, Kuwait’s Ruler Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah granted 1,000 Kuwaiti dinars to each of the country’s 1.2 million citizens besides free food rations for 13 months.

Young people, who can vote from 21, are offered generous scholarships to study abroad and many choose universities in the United States, Canada and Britain, allowing them to gain exposure to foreign cultures.

Once they graduate, most can go into a stable government job or wait for one and get state support in the meantime. If they choose to work for the private sector, the state often supplements their salary.

Salaries are also good by the standards of most countries. Under government plans announced in March, customs inspectors get a starting salary of 1,200 dinars a month tax-free, while a junior law clerk gets around 840 dinars.

All this may sound like a dream come true to young people in the West who these days can expect to face long periods of joblessness or underemployment on graduating. A global downturn has led to some of the highest unemployment figures in the Eurozone since the formation of the single currency in 1999. US unemployment has eased but the economy is still about 4.5 million jobs adrift of where it stood when the 2007-09 recession started.

But those who are looking for something a bit less prescribed — who have entrepreneurial ambitions, for example — say Kuwait is far from a paradise.

A bloated public sector with a strict hierarchy means Kuwait can be a bureaucratic headache, full of complicated paperwork and red tape. Family and social connections are often used to fast-track the system.

Jasem, 28, said getting a business licence through normal channels can take up to seven months. “And look at the lack of development in the past 10 years. We contribute to the development of hospitals in other countries but we do not build new ones here,” he said, asking to be identified only by his first name.