Youth unemployment and the transition from school to work. Given the current level sits at 25 percent, there is a lot of work needed to be done, with many speculating that. Youth unemployment rate in south africa decreased to 58. The unemployment problem in south africa is not new. There is a risk of loss of talent and skills, since a great amount of university graduates are unable to find a job and put their knowledge and capabilities into producing innovation and contributing to economic growth. According to an international labour office study in 2004, youth 1524 make up nearly half 47% of the worlds unemployed, 88 million out of 186 million, even though youth are only 25% of the worlds working age population. New ways to boost workseeking tactics must be explored to help young people find work or the unemployment crisis will worsen say researchers. Statistics south africa released a report on youth unemployment in mid2015. The economy of south africa is the second largest in africa, after nigeria.
Recent studies only briefly examined how the youths fared since the transition by comparing the 1995 october household survey ohs with a labour force survey lfs, and hardly investigated whether the discouraged workseekers are different from the unemployed. New research unpacks the realities of youth unemployment in south africa and points the way to a solution. Challenge of african youth unemployment africa portal. Furthermore little research has been done, especially in south africa, on youth unemployment from a theological perspective. The challenges that young south africans face in accessing. Since the beginning of the 2000s, a few studies focused particularly on youth and graduate unemployment, but there has been a lack of research in this area in recent years. Free essays on causes and effects of unemployment in south.
Pdf education and youth unemployment in south africa. South africas economy grew by 2,8% in 2010 and was forecasted to grow by about 3,5% in 2011 business report, 25 march 2011. Throughout the country, only 1 in 3 young people of working age is employed. The africa development forum series was created in 2009 to focus on issues of signi. The dimensions of youth unemployment in south africa. In contrast, upper middle income countries such as algeria and south africa have higher. The paper examines the empirical relationship between youth unemployment rate and economic growth rate in lowincome countries in subsaharan africa ssa.
The challenges that young south africans face in accessing jobs. Introduction the problem of high youth unemployment is a global phenomenon. Youth unemployment and poverty in nigeria oduwole, tajudeen adebowale department of sociology, faculty of liberal arts. J y a c a building today, a better africa tomorrow. The state of employment and unemployment in south africa. This distressing statistic not only plays out through the limited earnings potential and future prospects of these youth, but also emerges within stymied business growth and unsustainable. Murray leibbrandt is professor of economics and director of the southern. Youth unemployment in south africa revisited abstract. The implementation of unemployment policies in south africa. A recent study by the world bank shows that a large portion of people aged 1524, including graduates, in subsaharan africa are involved in selfemployment in the informal sector. A qualitative study of the impact of unemployment in.
Yu 20 provides an overview of the literature on youth unemployment in south africa. The social and economic impact of youth unemployment hr. Youth and adult employment rates in south africa and selected emerging market economies 10 fig. Pdf on jan 1, 2011, cecil mlatsheni and others published youth unemployment in south africa. The impact of economic growth on unemployment in south africa. Youth unemployment in south africa revisited derek yu abstract one of the most pressing socioeconomic problems of the south african economy is high youth unemployment. There is broad consensus that youth unemployment in south africa is critical, with latest figures confirm ing that one half of young people 1534 years are. South africa has a peculiar situation of long periods of growth, but this has not created jobs. Since 1996, at the end of over twelve years of international sanctions, south africas gross domestic product almost. The analysis shows that graduate unemployment in south africa is not only low in relation to overall unemployment in the country, but that much of the raciallydelineated differentials in graduate unemployment and employment outcomes can likely be attributed to. Insight newsletter issue government communication and. This article pays attention to youth unemployment as one of the most serious socioeconomic challenges in south africa. Standing et al 1996 report that unemployment rose sharply in the 1970s and that this rise continued through th e 1980s and 1990s.
South africa is an uppermiddleincome economy one of only eight such countries in africa. Urban areas have much higher rates of unemployment than rural areasas do women than menand, it seems, higher income countries. Kwabena gyimahbrempong is a professor and the chair of the department of economics at the university of south florida. Its aim is both to record the state of the art on a speci. South africa in particular is suffering from a high level of youth unemployment which has been increasing. In 1994, no one would have foreseen the staggering current unemployment rate for young people aged 15 to 34 years old, which increased from 32. Cape town south africa has the third highest unemployment rate in the world for people between the ages of 15 to 24, according to the world economic forum wef global risk 2014 report. Hence, this dissertation aims to fill some gap in the available research by investigating the extent, nature and causes of graduate unemployment in south africa. Between 2002 and 2007, south africas gdp growth steadily increased and unemployment rates dropped. He said rural unemployment had now risen to a point where over half of those living in rural regions, defined by statistics south africa as tribal areas, were unemployed. Unemployment is a major talking point in south africa with governments national development plan targeting a jobless rate of 14 percent by 2020 and 6 percent by 2030. Labour supply, employment and unemployment the high level of poverty that persists in south africa is closely linked to the unemployment problem.
Youth, unemployment and the south african dream the mail. Township youth perceptions of poverty and unemployment in. Drawing on the 2007 and 2010 swaziland labor force surveys, this paper provides first systematic evidence on recent youth employment challenges in swaziland, a small, landlocked, middleincome country with one of the highest youth unemployment rates in africa. Prevalence, characteristics and perceived causes submitted in partial fulfillment for a master of arts, in research psychology by research and coursework degree, at the university of the witwatersrands school of human and community development. The youth unemployment rate in south africa is frightening. Matriculants looking for a job in south africa are struggling to find one, or one that pays a decent income. South africa is faced with a crisis of high and rising youth unemployment. The fact that many households are not directly linked to the formal economy via the labour market, as well as the poor employment growth performance in past. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the funder, ersa or the authors affiliated institutions. Education and youth unemployment in south africa core. Youth unemployment in south africa lam, leibrandt and mlatsheni point out that south africa is an important case study for youth unemployment, although research on youth unemployment in south africa is new. The contribution of this study comes at the time when south africa is facing high levels of unemployment and is in dire need to find policies that will curb unemployment and ensure a sustainable growth. Ersa shall not be liable to any person for inaccurate information or opinions contained herein. There are too many unemployed youth in south africa.
For example, in mali 94% of the population is employed in the informal sector, and the respective figures for ethiopia and south africa are 74% and 31%. Youth unemployment rate in south africa averaged 52. The report estimates that more than 50% of young south africans between 15 and 24 are unemployed. Pdf the impact of economic growth on unemployment in. Is agriculture the answer to youth unemployment in africa. Reducing youth unemployment in south africa youth economic. The recorded unemployment rate would have grown much faster if not for the massive growth in the informal sector.
More than 20 years into democracy, young people are still languishing in poverty and are plagued by crime, violence, unemployment and lack of. Kimenyi is a senior fellow and the direc tor of the africa growth. The slide below shows unemployment trends for youth aged 1534 in comparison with adults aged 3564. South africa has one of the highest rates of youth unemployment in the world, with more than three million, or half of the number of young black. Unemployment rates are much higher for youths q3 2010 11 fig. The rise in youth unemployment has the danger of increasing crime as young people are idle a lot of the time. The nature of the beast article pdf available in world development 323. Unemployment and household formation in south africa. Challenges, concepts and opportunities find, read and cite all the research you need on researchgate. University of cape town,faculty of humanities,department of social development, 2010 cited yyyy. A qualitative study of the impact of unemployment in mazakhele kwazulunatal by jabulani nkosikhona mzizi submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of master of arts in the subject psychology at the university of south africa supervisor. Despite being a leading economy in subsaharan africa, with almost 50% of unemployed youth, south africa has one of the highest levels of youth. This is the culmination of a longterm, yet steady, rise in unemployment that started as early as the 1970s.
At a policy level, south africa is a mixed economy. Official unemployment rate by population group and highest level of. South africas formal higher education institutions every year. Solving the unemployment problem facing youth skills portal. As a regional manufacturing hub, it is the most industrialized and diversified economy on the continent. Recent studies only briefly examined how youths have fared since. Alarming rise in rural unemployment, mps told the mail. Many african youth face high unemployment or employment in lowwage temporary jobs that compound their poverty, especially in northern and southern africa. Determining the causes of the rising south african. Township youth perceptions of poverty and unemployment in cape town, south africa. The problem of high youth unemployment is a global phenomenon.
Education and youth unemployment in south africa by david lam, university of michigan, murray leibbrandt, university of cape town and cecil mlatsheni, university of cape town 1. In these countries, 10 to 15% of youth labor force participants find wage employment, while 3050% are vulnerably employed. South africa considered as an emerging economy mamabolo et al. One of the most pressing socioeconomic problems of the south african economy is high youth unemployment. Africa labour and development research unit saldru at the university of cape. In 20, the youth unemployment rate was 63 percent of the youth labor force 3. Graduate unemployment in the face of skills shortages. Statistics south africa stats sa recently announced that youth unemployment in the country has fallen to 36.