YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT AT ITS MOST HIGH IN SOUTH AFRICA

Unemployment in South Africa is the biggest issue at the moment. Those mostly affected by this are the young people of the country. This might be due to the fact South Africa experiences a situation where there is a surplus of especially unskilled and low-skilled job seekers. This is caused largely by historically low levels of investment in African education. According to Statistics South Africa (StatsSA), about 7.8 million South Africans were out of a job in the second quarter of 2021, the highest rate since 2008. Black African women are the most affected followed by young people aged 18-34.

The contributing factors to this high rate of youth unemployment are largely due to the lack of job opportunities but also include barriers to entering the labor market, like limited work experience and the increasing size of the population itself. This is also due to the evidence of large inequalities between age groups, races and gender. Another reason for youth unemployment in South Africa is the legacy of apartheid and poor education and training in the country. Some research shows that the deliberate exclusion of black people from the educational system and from skilled occupations under apartheid contributed to the high rates of unemployment today. Another reason for this is the effects of the 2008/2009 global recession. During the recession, many workers lost their jobs, the largest number in manufacturing. This meant that companies could no longer afford to employ more people and had to reduce the workforce. We still see the effects of the recession even to this day because we still have a large number of young people that are unemployed. Some hold various degrees in various fields but still have nothing to show for that. Another reason is the general lack of interest for entrepreneurship among the youth. Irrespective of various government initiatives to enhance entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial activity in South Africa is low. For example, the number of young people involved entrepreneurial activity remains extremely low at only six percent of the total youth population; that 18-34 years. This means that even though the government is not providing jobs, people are also not standing up and getting things done for themselves by themselves. They are waiting to spoon fed even when they are witnessing the state of the country. By the look of things, it will only get harder and worse from here going forward.

Youth unemployment is a huge issue in South Africa at the moment. The current situation in South Africa is far from being desirable and the government together with social partners is hard at work to find sustainable solutions to this problem.