essay of unemployment in south africa

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The struggle of unemployment: A South African perspective

South Africa achieved independence in 1994, but years later, there has been little improvement in the general populace’s poverty levels. While the country remains one of Africa’s strongest economies, statistics indicate that close to 50% of the population lives in poverty. (Based on south African government poverty measure where the upper bound poverty line is

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Millions of young South Africans are without jobs: what are the answers?

Director & Professor, Stellenbosch University

Senior lecturer in Strategy and Sustainability, Stellenbosch University

Professor of Economics and Development Finance, Stellenbosch University

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The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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African countries are experiencing an unprecedented level of unemployment among young people. The unemployment numbers are expected to increase given the booming youth population in Africa.

Not only are more young people without jobs, the vast majority are employed in the informal economy. The International Labour Organisation puts the proportion of 15-24 year olds employed in the informal economy in the world at 95% in 2018. The proportion in sub-Saharan Africa is in the same ballpark.

If not arrested, this situation presents a ticking time bomb with adverse political and socioeconomic consequences.

The problem is particularly acute in South Africa. World Bank statistics show that in 2019 the youth unemployment rate in South Africa stood at 58%, which is one of the highest in sub-Saharan Africa. For South Africa , the unemployment numbers are expected to increase. Over 60% of the unemployed at the start of 2020 were aged 15-34.

The South African economy has consistently underperformed in the past decade, with growth in real GDP per capita declining since 2011. While South Africa experienced political emancipation in 1994, the population still suffers from high inequality. The country’s GINI coefficient stood at 0.63 in 2015 – one of the highest in the world.

South Africa is desperate for a more dynamic, employment intensive and innovative growth trajectory – even more so after the pandemic of COVID-19.

A sustainable and inclusive economic recovery that guarantees decent jobs will require an integrated response from policy makers, in partnership with the private, academic and community sectors.

We argue that promoting entrepreneurship has a role. But the data show that South Africa needs to step up entrepreneurship development for it to catalyse youth employment.

Joblessness and education

Unemployment is not limited to those with basic or lower levels of education. The trend of unemployed young people with tertiary education is also on the rise. According to the 2021 World Bank World Development Indicator the percentage of the labour force with an advanced level of education that is unemployed rose from 3.7% in 2007 to 14% in 2019.

Gone are the days when a university graduate was guaranteed a job.

A gender gap is also evident in the unemployment figures among people with advanced education. The unemployment rates of 2.3% in 2007 and 12% in 2019 for males with advanced education were lower than those of their female counterparts, which grew from 4.7% to 15%.

This status risks long-term scarring effects for young people along with increases in informal working and social isolation .

Rising unemployment has a severe effect on the wellbeing of families, in terms of hunger and mental health. According to research done at the University of Stellenbosch, roughly one in five (18%) families reported someone going hungry at the end of 2020, compared to 14% (one in seven) in 2018. At the same time, a recent study found that a 1% increase in youth unemployment led to a 1.6%-1.8% increase in murder crimes.

The already dire situation has been compounded by the COVID-19 crisis with its adverse economic and labour market fallouts. According to Statistics South Africa , the economy is still 2.7% smaller than it was in the first quarter of 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic started.

And evidence suggests that the impact is disproportionately affecting young people with many more losing their jobs, or being driven into the informal sector.

• Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship has been cited as a key lever to transform local and global communities and societies.

We agree that entrepreneurship has a major role in promoting innovation, improving productivity and developing a business culture. And, importantly, it has the potential to create employment.

But data from the Global Entrepreneurial Monitor , coordinated by the University of Stellenbosch Business School , indicate that South Africa’s Total Early-Stage Entrepreneurial Activity between 2001 and 2016 was below average compared to most other similar countries.

Research shows that this measure has dropped below half that of the more entrepreneurial economies.

This suggests that South Africa isn’t doing enough.

A greater focus on entrepreneurship would permit the development of more enterprises to formalise many aspects of the South African economy.

Having said that, the evidence from across the world shows that entrepreneurs do not always create jobs. Indeed, research shows that many entrepreneurs are sole traders and involved in activities with limited potential to create employment.

Put simply, South Africa needs entrepreneurs that create jobs rather than simply setting up informal stores (known as spaza shops, which number more than 100,000 in the country).

South Africa should encourage entrepreneurship with three characteristics:

social entrepreneurship. This is the kind that addresses issues such as inequality, healthcare, hunger and environmental sustainability. These are based on business models that create tangible economic value at scale.

entrepreneurship that embodies the Schumpeterian idea of creative destruction – developed by Austrian political economist Joseph Schumpeter , the idea is that inferior solutions get replaced (partly or completely) with new products, services and business models.

entrepreneurship that unlocks multiplier effects for other small businesses to create employment. This would include fintech like Yoco , M-PESA and JUMO .

The challenge for policy makers is to understand, develop and nurture the support that helps entrepreneurs develop. And enables them to move on to become employers and creators of jobs as well as innovating products and services.

For innovative businesses to thrive, effective and supportive environments have to be created. This should include access to resources, such as capital or knowledge and a market for their innovation.

These supportive environments require an educational system that infuses intensive technical skill-based vocational education complemented with practical, innovative training at all levels. This would give young people the foundation, skills and mindset they need to become entrepreneurs.

Access to finance by youth enterprises and entrepreneurs is critical. But this needs to be tailored to their needs. Examples include loan guarantee schemes, direct loans and equity as well as structured finance.

There are signs of some progress. For example, the African Development Bank is developing Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Banks to finance youth entrepreneurship and innovation in Africa.

And the South African government has introduced programmes and schemes that provide finance for enterprises including those owned by young people. These could be strengthened.

Mentorship for young entrepreneurs is also needed. As is the creation of incubators and innovation hubs where young entrepreneurs can experiment with business ideas and learn from others.

Ultimately, critical capacity development in the field of entrepreneurship is needed. For South Africa this would include capacity in research, training, and advice with the aim to boost dynamism, growth and inclusion through entrepreneurship for more members of society.

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Youth unemployment in South Africa revisited

• Cite this article
• https://doi.org/10.1080/0376835X.2013.830964

1. Introduction

2. literature review, 3. methodology and data analysis, 4. empirical findings, 5. concluding remarks.

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One of the most pressing socio-economic problems of the South African economy is high youth unemployment. Recent studies only briefly examined how youths have fared since the transition by comparing the 1995 October Household Survey with a Labour Force Survey, and hardly investigated whether the discouraged workseekers are different from the unemployed. This paper re-examined youth unemployment trends in the 2008–12 Quarterly Labour Force Surveys, before comparing the characteristics of discouraged workseekers and narrow unemployed. Whether different policies are needed to boost youth employment in each group is also discussed.

• unemployment
• discouraged workseekers
• narrowed unemployed
• wage subsidy
• labour market trends
• South Africa

The persistently high youth unemployment has always been one of the most pressing socio-economic problems of South Africa. Youths do not have sufficient network to obtain information on job opportunities, as well as financial resources and mobility to seek work or relocate closer to the places where job opportunities exist (Mlatsheni, Citation 2007 ; Guma, Citation 2011 ; Smith, Citation 2011 ). Even if they do, some of them, especially those coming from well-resourced families, unrealistically have too high expectations about their employment likelihood and reservation wage, thereby taking an unnecessarily long time to ‘shop around’ for a job that meets their expectations (Mlatsheni, Citation 2007 ; Von Fintel & Black, Citation 2007 ; Rankin & Roberts, Citation 2011 ; Roberts, Citation 2011 ). The youths also lack ‘soft’ skills such as communication skills, personal presentation and emotional maturity (Rees, Citation 1986 ; Pauw et al., Citation 2008 ; National Treasury, Citation 2011 ).

Some of the young workseekers are not well educated and dropped out of school early, due to reasons such as poverty and an inability to cope with studies. As the economy demands highly-skilled labour due to capital deepening and technological advancements, an incomplete secondary education is insufficient to guarantee employment (Banerjee et al., Citation 2006 ; Lam et al., Citation 2008 ; Burns et al., Citation 2010 ). Even if the youths pursue post-secondary education, graduates from study fields such as humanities and arts as well as education are less likely to find employment compared with those from fields like engineering and medical sciences. The under-supply of graduates from the latter fields is mainly due to the decreasing number of students enrolling and passing mathematics and physical science in matriculation, as they could not cope with these subjects during their school years (Centre for Development and Enterprise, Citation 2007 ), and the struggle of tertiary institutions to retain high-quality teaching and research staff (Du Toit & Roodt, Citation 2008 ). Also, some of the matriculants completed their post-Matric qualifications at institutions not recognised by employers (Mlatsheni & Rospabé, Citation 2002 ; Moleke, Citation 2005 ; Altman, Citation 2007 ), especially for the blacks with post-Matric certificates or diplomas (Pauw et al., Citation 2008 ). Hence, these young graduates are not demanded by the employers.

As the provisions of the Labour Relations Act make it difficult for employers to shed non-performing workers, the employers feel more risk-averse to employing inexperienced young workers, whose productivity is not fully known (Van Aardt, Citation 2009 ). The minimum wage agreed on during collective bargaining is only afforded by the larger firms, but not necessarily by the smaller firms. The latter firms, which are more labour intensive and potentially the main source of employment creation, would either close down or retrench workers, and youths are more likely to be retrenched first (Nattrass, Citation 2000 ). Furthermore, there is an inherent asymmetry between the desires of the currently employed (i.e. insiders) and the unemployed (i.e. outsiders). The insiders prefer wage levels to remain high, while some of the outsiders are willing to accept wage levels below the minimum wage. However, the views of the outsiders are not represented when trade unions and employers negotiate over remuneration of workers, and wages are too sticky and slow to fall during the times of low labour productivity and labour demand. Thus, the outsiders (with most of them being youngsters) remain unemployed for a long time (Von Fintel & Burger Citation 2009 ; Paton Citation 2011 ).

The relatively inexperienced and less educated youths who struggle to find employment in the formal sector could still survive by engaging in informal sector activities. Nonetheless, informal employment is hindered by various barriers to entry, ranging from crime to lack of access to formal or even informal credit, lack of access to infrastructure and services, insufficient provision of training facilities, and lack of provision of market access and business development programmes. The existence of some of these barriers are attributed to the government support programmes on small, medium and microenterprises being biased towards the groups of small and medium-sized enterprises, bypassing microenterprises and the informal enterprises (Kingdon & Knight, Citation 2004 ; Rogerson, Citation 2004 ; Devey et al., Citation 2006 ). Also, the Sector Education and Training Authorities tend to prioritise the needs of those paying the skills levy (which goes towards the National Skills Fund); that is, the registered enterprises in the formal economy (Devey et al., Citation 2006 ). Therefore, the development and growth of the informal enterprises and their subsequent contribution towards employment creation, including youth employment, are inhibited. Finally, other possible reasons accounting for unemployment include economic recession (the youth workers are more likely to be laid off at times of financial difficulties, as indicated by the fact that the employment elasticity of economic growth between 1995 and 2011 was only 0.42 for the youths but 0.68 in the case of adults) and employment discrimination against the young workseekers, especially the previously disadvantaged groups such as females and blacks (Mlatsheni & Rospabé, Citation 2002 ; Burger & Jafta Citation 2006 ; Shepherd Citation 2008 ).

The characteristics of the youth unemployed need to be examined, before the appropriate policies to boost youth employment could be determined. Almost all recent South African studies only briefly look at how the youths fared since the transition by comparing the 1995 October Household Survey (OHS) with the latest available Labour Force Survey (LFS), and dividing the work-age population (15 to 65 years) into different age cohorts before analysing what happens in each age cohort. These studies also hardly investigate whether the discouraged workseekers are different from the unemployed. Furthermore, a new labour market status derivation methodology is adopted since the inception of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) in 2008. Although the unemployed in the QLFS are derived similarly to in the OHS and LFS, the discouraged workseekers are distinguished very differently, leading to incomparable broad unemployment aggregates during the changeover between the LFS and the QLFS. Hence, the research objective of this paper is to examine whether the characteristics of discouraged workseekers and narrow unemployed differ significantly since 2008. The focus is on the youths, who are defined as people aged 18 to 29 years, for the remainder of this paper. Footnote 2

The rest of the paper is structured as follows. Section 2 reviews recent studies on how the youths fare in the labour market since the transition, while Section 3 briefly examines the changes in labour market status derivation methodology as well as youth labour market trends in 1995–2012. Section 4 examines the characteristics of the discouraged workseekers and narrow unemployed in the 2008 and 2012 QLFSs. Section 5 concludes the paper by discussing whether different policies are needed to boost youth employment in each group.

Almost all recent studies on the state of the South African labour market since the transition only briefly examine what happens to the youths. Looking at the studies that only analyse one labour survey, Bhorat & Leibbrandt ( Citation 1999 ), using the OHS 1995 data, run probit regressions and two-step Heckprobit regressions on the black labour force participation and employment likelihood respectively, under both the narrow and broad definitions. The results show that blacks in the youngest age cohort (16 to 25 years) are associated with the lowest likelihood of participation, after controlling for differences in other demographic, educational attainment and household characteristics. Moreover, employment likelihood increases in the older age cohorts. In the study by National Treasury ( Citation 2011 ), using the QLFS 2011Q3 data, people aged 16 to 64 years are divided into various age cohorts. The narrow unemployment rate is the highest in the age 18 to 24 cohort (51.0%), followed by the age 25 to 29 cohort (33.8%). These two cohorts account for 55% of the unemployed. Furthermore, unemployment intensity, which is derived as the unemployment rate weighted by the share of unemployed or labour force participation, is the highest in the age 18 to 24 cohort. Bhorat & Oosthuizen ( Citation 2007 ) derive the South African ratio of the adult (35 to 65 years) unemployment rate to the youth (15 to 34 years) unemployment rate under the broad definition in LFS 2005. They find that the youth unemployment likelihood is twice that of the non-youth population, despite the fact that this ratio is lower in only five out of 14 sub-Saharan countries for which data are available.

Burger & Woolard ( Citation 2005 ) compare OHS 1995 with LFS 2002 March to investigate the demographic and educational attainment characteristics of the broad labour force and unemployed, as well as the work activities of the employed. They only briefly look at broad unemployment rates of age cohorts, and find that the unemployment rate is the highest in the age 16 to 24 cohort. The unemployment rate increases in all cohorts between the two surveys, but the increase is much greater in the younger cohorts (16 to 24 years and 25 to 34 years). Dias & Posel ( Citation 2006 ) use the OHS 1995 and LFS 2003 September data to examine the relationship between education and broad unemployment likelihood. The probit regressions on the broad labour force indicate that in all four population groups the probability of unemployment decreases across the older age cohorts, as compared with the reference category (16 to 20 years).

Banerjee et al. ( Citation 2006 ), despite primarily focusing on the causes of unemployment such as union wage premium, high reservation wage due to the receipt of a pension by another household member and structural change of the economy, compare OHS 1995 with LFS 2005 September to examine the labour force broad participation, employment and broad unemployment. They find that the broad unemployment rate and the extent of its increase is higher in the younger cohorts. For instance, the broad unemployment rate increases from 31.3% to 52.3% in the age 20 to 24 cohort, while it rises from 21.3% to 36.0% for those aged 25 to 29 years. In addition, the employment likelihood is only about 26% and 48% for these two cohorts respectively, but it exceeds 60% for those aged 30 to 49 years in both surveys. Bhorat ( Citation 2009 ) also primarily examines the causes and determinants of unemployment, but he uses the same two datasets to briefly examine the characteristics of the broad unemployed, and the results of the probit regressions show that employment likelihood increases across the older age cohorts, compared with the reference group (15 to 24 years).

The three studies by the Development Policy Research Unit (DPRU) analyse the characteristics of the labour force, employed and unemployed in greater detail. The broad definition is used, and the working-age population is divided into five age cohorts (15 to 24 years, 25 to 34 years, 35 to 44 years, 45 to 54 years and 55 to 65 years). First, Bhorat & Oosthuizen ( Citation 2005 ) compare OHS 1995 with LFS 2002 September, and find that the increase of labour force is the greatest in the age 25 to 34 cohort between the two surveys (30.0%), followed by the age 15 to 24 cohort (25.2%). These two young age cohorts account for 53.7% of the labour force in 1995 but this share increases to 60.4% in 2002. Although employment increases in all cohorts between the two surveys, the increase is the lowest in the two young cohorts, as their share of the employed decreases from 45.3% to 42.5% between the two surveys. The unemployment rate increases in all age cohorts, but the increase is greatest in the two young cohorts. The discouraged workseekers are briefly looked at, and the age 15 to 24 cohort comprises 28.6% of discouraged workseekers in 1995 but this proportion increases to 33.8% in 2002.

Oosthuizen ( Citation 2006 ) adopts the same approach as Bhorat & Oosthuizen ( Citation 2005 ) when comparing OHS 1995 with LFS 2004 September, and derives very similar findings. In addition, Oosthuizen conducts multivariate analyses by running the probit and Heckprobit regressions on labour force participation and employment likelihoods respectively, and finds that the age 15 to 24 cohort remains the group with the lowest likelihood of participating in the labour market, followed by those aged 55 to 65 years. Those aged 35 to 54 years are associated with the greatest probability of employment.

Van der Westhuizen et al. ( Citation 2006 ) analyse the OHS 1995 and LFS 2005 September data to investigate how each gender fares in the labour market. Females experience a greater increase of labour force number and labour force participation rates in all age cohorts, despite the fact that these numbers and rates remain higher in males. Employment increases in all age cohorts in both genders between the two surveys, but the increase is most rapid in the age 45 to 54 and age 55 to 65 cohorts. Unemployment rates increase between the two surveys in all age cohorts for both genders, but the increase is greater in females, especially those in the two young cohorts (15 to 24 years and 25 to 34 years). The econometric analyses on the females indicate that both the labour force participation likelihood and employment likelihood are the lowest in the age 15 to 24 cohort, followed by the age 25 to 34 cohort.

Kingdon & Knight ( Citation 2004 ) focus on the broad definition of the labour force by comparing OHS 1995 with LFS 2003 September. Unemployment rate and the extent of the increase of this rate between the two surveys is the greatest in the age 16 to 20 and age 21 to 25 cohorts. They also conduct probit regressions to determine the characteristics of the broad unemployed whose duration of unemployment exceeds three years, and find that the likelihood of long-term unemployment is the lowest in the two aforementioned younger cohorts.

Few studies examine more than two labour surveys to investigate the labour market trends, but none of them focus exclusively on the youths. First, Arora & Ricci ( Citation 2005 ) mainly deal with the causes of unemployment as in Bhorat ( Citation 2009 ), except that the OHS 1995–99 and LFS 2000–01 data are used to derive the narrow and broad unemployment rates in three age cohorts, namely 15 to 24 years, 25 to 44 years and 45 to 65 years. They find that unemployment rates increase in all three cohorts between 1995 and 2001, but the rates remain the highest for those aged 15 to 24 years in all surveys under study. In contrast, Hlekiso & Mahlo ( Citation 2009 ) focus on the demand and supply of skills in the labour market by using all 2001–07 September LFSs to analyse the work activities of the employed and the demographic characteristics of the unemployed. The share of the unemployed aged 15 to 24 years increases from 32.4% in 2001 to 34.4% in 2007, and the median salary of the employed in this age cohort is the lowest in all surveys.

Yu ( Citation 2008 ) adopts the same as approach as the three DPRU studies above, except that all 1995–99 OHSs and 2000–06 LFSs are used to derive labour market trends under the broad definition. Although the extent of increase of the labour force participation rate is the greatest in the age 15 to 24 cohort, this rate remains the lowest when compared with the rates of other cohorts. Employment increases in all cohorts throughout the years, but the increase is the lowest in the younger age cohorts. This implies that the extent of the increase in youth employment is not rapid enough to absorb the net labour force entrants, thereby causing the number of unemployed and unemployment rates in the younger age cohorts to increase between 1995 and 2006. For instance, the broad unemployment rates of the age 15 to 24 and age 25 to 34 cohorts increase by 10.6 percentage points (from 53.1% in 1995 to 63.7% in 2006) and 6.2 percentage points (from 34.1% to 40.3%) respectively; people aged 15 to 34 years account for 70% of the unemployed in 1995 but this share increases to 75% in 2006.

Only four South African studies focus primarily on how the youths fare in the labour market. Mlatsheni & Rospabé ( Citation 2002 ) use the OHS 1999 data to examine people aged 15 to 30 years. The results of the multinomial logistic regressions of the young broad labour force indicate that those aged 25 to 29 years, male, white, being married household heads, with higher educational attainment, and residing in Western Cape are associated with greater likelihood of either being employees or self-employed (the broad unemployed is the reference category). Altman ( Citation 2007 ) defines youths as those aged 15 to 34 years and divides them into three cohorts (15 to 19 years, 20 to 24 years and 25 to 34 years). Using the OHS 1997 and 1999 as well as the September LFS 2001, 2003 and 2005 data, she finds that the narrow labour force participation rate and narrow unemployment rate are the highest for those aged 25 to 34 years and 15 to 19 years respectively.

In the 2012 study by the DPRU, the demographic and educational attainment characteristics of the youth broad labour force, employed and broad unemployed are looked at by comparing the first QLFS of 2008 and 2012 with the youths being defined as those aged 15 to 34 years. They find that female blacks without Matric are associated with a greater likelihood of unemployment in both surveys. In 2012, 61% of the youth unemployed have never worked before, but it is only 17% for the non-youths (35 to 65 years). The employed youths are characterised by relatively inferior working conditions, such as non-permanent contract, long work hours, as well as lack of pension contributions and paid annual leave by employers.

Kingdon & Knight ( Citation 2000 ) is the only South African study that focuses exclusively on the comparison between the narrow unemployed (searching unemployed) and discouraged workseekers (non-searching unemployed). They argue that there are two possible interpretations of the discouraged workseekers not actively seeking work, namely taste for unemployment (e.g. intra-household income transfer due to the employment or the receipt of social grant income of other household members) and discouraged worker hypothesis (e.g. poverty, economic recession, high cost of job search, long duration of unemployment, high unemployment rate in the area of residence). Moreover, using the 1993 Project for Statistics on Living Standards and Development data, a binary logit regression is run on the unemployed aged 15 to 64 years, and it is found that people residing in remote areas characterised by a high unemployment rate, in the poorest income decile, with a lower level of educational attainment, and those at a younger age are less likely to actively seek work.

To sum up, most of the studies reviewed above only briefly examine the youth labour force since the advent of democracy, and the general conclusion is that the pace of employment increase is not sufficient to keep up with the relatively greater increase of labour force, thereby causing the youth unemployment problem to worsen. Almost all of these studies are silent on the discouraged workseekers, and they are not compared with the narrow unemployed to determine whether the characteristics of the two groups are significantly different.

In OHS 1995–99 the labour market status derivation methodology from 1995 is not known, because Statistics South Africa did not release the metadata document when the data were released. The methodology adopted to distinguish the unemployed has changed a lot between OHS 1996 and LFS 2000 March, before a consistent approach is used in LFS 2000 September–2007 September. Footnote 3 In the latter surveys, those claiming they did not work in the last seven days prior to the interview but are looking for work and the reason for not working in the last seven days being ‘lack of skills’, ‘seasonal worker’, ‘cannot find suitable work’, ‘contract worker’ or ‘recently retrenched’ are distinguished as unemployed under the narrow definition, providing the following three criteria are met: (1) they would accept a job if offered one; (2) assuming the job offered is accepted, they could start working within two weeks; (3) and they took some action to look for work in the last four weeks (e.g. enquiring at workplaces, placing or answering advertisements). In contrast, those only meeting the first two criteria are classified as unemployed under the broad definition. The difference between the broad unemployed and narrow unemployed represents the discouraged workseekers.

The methodologies used in OHS 1996–99 and LFS 2000 March are different. For instance, the respondents' answer to the question regarding their reason for absence from work in the past seven days is not considered to distinguish the unemployed. Moreover, criterion (2) discussed above is not used to distinguish the unemployed under the broad definition. Furthermore, although criterion (2) is still used to define the unemployed under the narrow definition in these surveys, the respondents must claim they could start working within one week instead of two weeks, before they are defined as unemployed.

In 2005, consultants from the International Monetary Fund were appointed to evaluate all aspects of the LFS, leading to the revision of the labour market status derivation methodology in the QLFS. Footnote 4 The narrow unemployed are distinguished similarly to the OHSs and LFSs, except for criterion (2) above, as the respondents must declare they could start working or start a business within one week (instead of two weeks). However, the discouraged workseekers are derived very differently; in addition to meeting the criteria on acceptance of a job and readiness to start working within one week, the respondents' answer to the question ‘What was the main reason why you did not try to find work or start a business in the last four weeks?’ must be ‘no jobs available in the area’ or ‘unable to find work requiring his/her skills’ or ‘lost hope of finding any kind of work’ Footnote 5 (Statistics South Africa, Citation 2008a , Citation 2008b ). This question is not asked in the OHSs. Although it is asked in the LFSs, it is not considered when deriving labour market status in the LFS algorithms.

Figure 1: Youth and non-youth unemployment rates, 1995–2012

Figure 2: Youth employed, narrow unemployed and discouraged workseekers, 2008–12

Table 1: Characteristics of the youth narrow unemployed and discouraged workseekers, QLFS 2008Q1 and QLFS 2012Q1

With regard to the province of residence, the number and share of narrowed unemployed are the highest in Gauteng, followed by KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and Western Cape. In contrast, the majority of the discouraged workseekers reside in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo. The shares accounted for by the last two provinces increased rapidly between the two QLFSs, and it is possible that people residing in these provinces are unable to move to other provinces to seek work due to reasons such as financial constraints, yet the likelihood of finding employment is low in their provinces of residence, thereby losing hope of finding work. It is interesting that Western Cape is the only province with both the number and share of narrow unemployed increasing between the two surveys, but the opposite happens in the case of discouraged workseekers. In particular, the Western Cape share of discouraged workseekers is very low and decreases from 3.9% in 2008 to 1.3% in 2012. In addition, the Gauteng share drops from 18.2% to 11.0%, despite the fact that the number of discouraged workseekers increase slightly from 0.11 to 0.14 million. It is possible that these two more developed provinces are associated with better financial resources, mobility and higher educational attainment, so even though recession took place since 2008, those who cannot find work in these two provinces are more likely to continue to actively seek work.

Although both the youth narrow unemployed and discouraged workseekers become more educated throughout the years, the educational attainment of the latter group remains lower, as the proportion of them with at least Matric increases from 27.8% to 33.9% between the two QLFSs but this proportion increases more drastically from 42.9 to 46.5% in the narrow unemployed. The narrow unemployed are relatively older, as the proportion of them aged 25 to 29 years is about three percentage points higher compared with the discouraged workseekers. This finding is expected because the narrow unemployed are more educated and so they probably enter the labour market for work at an older age after completing their education. Furthermore, the proportion of people with previous work experience decreases between the two years in both groups, but this proportion is always higher in the narrow unemployed.

Finally, the last two columns show what happens to the ratio between discouraged workseekers and the narrow unemployed, and only in Western Cape does this ratio decrease between the two surveys under study. Furthermore, the extent of the increase of the ratio is relatively greater for blacks, those residing in Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal or Limpopo (the increase is most rapid in the latter province, from 0.279 to 1.555), those with low levels of educational attainment but without previous work experience, and those aged below 25 years.

The preceding analyses are limited in that they take into account only one or two demographic variables when describing the characteristics of the youth narrowed unemployed and discouraged workseekers. However, many variables act together to determine the labour market status of the youths. For this reason, multinomial logistic regressions are run. The same approach as used by Mlatsheni & Rospabé ( Citation 2002 ) is adopted, except that the discouraged workseekers are distinguished clearly from the narrow unemployed in the dependent variable. In other words, the dependent variable is a discrete variable that is equal to one if the individual is working (regardless of whether he/she is an employee or self-employed), two if he/she is a discouraged workseeker, and three if he/she is narrow unemployed. The independent variables in the regressions include the demographic information (gender, race and age), educational attainment, geographical situation (province), marital status, household headship status, number of children and elderly in the household, as well as the number of other employed (including both employees and self-employed) and narrow unemployed in the household.

Table 2: The determinants of employment for youths, QLFS 2008Q1 and QLFS 2012Q1

Considering the impact of location, Table 2 shows that those residing in Western Cape are associated with the greatest likelihood of being searching unemployed, compared with the reference category (Eastern Cape), and the odds increase drastically from 2.96 to 11.70 between 2008 and 2012. This is followed by Free State and Gauteng. In contrast, those residing in Limpopo are 1.63 times more likely to be searching unemployed in 2008, but the likelihood decreases by 32.1% in 2012; that is, they are more likely to be non-searching unemployed. This confirms the findings of Table 1 that the majority of the discouraged workseekers reside in the poorer, under-developed provinces, while those residing in the more developed provinces are more likely to continue to actively seek work despite the recession. With regard to the impact of age, being 25 to 29 years (compared with 18 to 24 years) increases the probability of being searching unemployed by 20.2% in 2008 and 17.6% in 2012.

Table 2 also shows that young people with higher educational attainment are associated with a greater likelihood of being searching unemployed than non-searching unemployed. These probabilities are statistically significant in both surveys. For instance, having Matric increases the likelihood of being searching unemployed by 31.4% in 2008 but 35.6% in 2012; having post-Matric certificate or diploma qualification is associated with a 96.8% greater likelihood of being searching unemployed in 2008, but it is only 48.3% in 2012; those having a bachelor degree are 10.29 and 6.11 times more likely to be searching unemployed in 2008 and 2012 respectively. The decrease in these odds is probably due to the economic recession.

Turning to the variables linked to the individual's family background, the marital status variable is insignificant in both years. The presence of children or the elderly leads to a reduced likelihood of being searching unemployed, and this might be attributed to the receipt of child grant and old-age pension income in the household, thereby discouraging active job search behaviour of the household members who are not working; that is, the taste for unemployment interpretation as argued by Kingdon & Knight ( Citation 2000 ). Finally, having employed household members increases the likelihood of being searching unemployed, while the presence of searching unemployed members also leads to a greater likelihood of those who are not employed to actively look for work instead of being discouraged.

This paper first reviewed the causes of youth unemployment and the recent studies that examined the labour market trends in South Africa. Almost all of these studies only briefly examine the youths, and the discouraged workseekers are hardly compared with the narrow unemployed. As the discouraged workseekers in OHSs/LFSs and QLFSs are incomparable, the youth narrow unemployed and discouraged workseekers in QLFSs are compared and we find that they differ in their characteristics, because the former people are more likely to be whites, residing in the richer provinces like Gauteng, Western Cape and Free State, more educated and older, and more likely to have previously work experience. In contrast, the youth discouraged workseekers are more likely to reside in poorer provinces associated with lower employment likelihood, such as Limpopo and Eastern Cape, aged below 25 years, lowly educated, and have other household members receiving child grant or old-age pension income. The share of discouraged workseekers accounted for by these people increases in the aftermath of recession, thereby indicating that these people are the ones who are more likely to move straight from employment or narrow unemployment (searching unemployment) to discouraged workseekers (non-searching unemployment) due to reasons such as economic downturn, poverty, lack of mobility, high cost of job search that is no longer affordable, and high unemployment rate in the area of residence.

The youth wage subsidy is being proposed in South Africa to be provided to employers (i.e. supply-side subsidy) to increase youth labour demand and help offsetting the cost of on-the-job training. The work experience and training gained by the youths would improve their long-term employment prospects. An important question that arises is whether this subsidy programme is effective to boost employment in both the narrow unemployed and discouraged workseekers. It seems that the former people, who are more educated and have previous work experience, are more likely to be the primary beneficiaries of the subsidy programme.

With regard to the discouraged workseekers – who are more likely to be poor, less mobile, not highly educated, do not have previous work experience and give up hope on finding work due to economic downturn – the youth wage subsidy alone might not be sufficient to encourage them to seek work actively, nor to increase employers' demand for these people. Other active labour market policies are required to complement the youth wage subsidy programme. For instance, providing more financial support to fund studies in critical skills (e.g. via the National Student Financial Aid Scheme); direct public sector employment creation projects (e.g. Expanded Public Works Program) that could improve the participants' subsequent transition to more secure formal private sector employment; better management of the National Skills Fund and Sector Education and Training Authorities (there are reports on these organisations lacking proper systems for accounting and monitoring, effective management of the spending of funds, and insufficient career guidance for young students in their strategies) (Department of Higher Education and Training, Citation 2011 ; National Treasury, Citation 2011 ); and promotion of self-employment (e.g. better government support to promote micro-enterprises and informal enterprises and removing the barriers of entry to informal sector).

In addition, there needs to be provision of more and better assistance to encourage job search, particularly in the poorer provinces where there is a higher incidence of discouraged workseekers. For instance, free assistance on writing curriculum vitas and preparing for job interviews; youth job advisory centres, job search workshops and counselling; job search assistance to improve the match of the skills of the youth unemployed and available vacancies; financial rewards such as providing transportation subsidies on evidence of job search (e.g. signed confirmation of interview); and arranging employers to arrive in the remote, poor areas to recruit people in the local labour offices, in order to improve the youths' motivation to seek work instead of simply giving up hope on finding jobs or only passively wait for word of a job from friends and relatives (Kingdon & Knight, Citation 2000 ; United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Citation 2005 ; Smith, Citation 2006 ; National Treasury, Citation 2011 ).

For both groups of youths, labour market rigidities on employment and wage as discussed in Section 1 must be addressed, or it will be difficult for the youth wage subsidy programme to be fully cost-effective to help absorbing the young labour force into the labour market and for the young workers to survive on a permanent basis. A recent breakthrough is that, in the clothing industry, a three-year wage deal has been secured by the South African Clothing and Textile Workers' Union so that it becomes possible to pay new workers 20 to 30% less than existing workers in order to boost youth employment (Financial Mail, Citation 2011 ).

Finally, one of the most important long-term solutions to reduce youth unemployment is to reduce the size of the lowly educated youth labour force, by improving the school resources and quality of education (especially the former black schools), increasing the enrolment and passes of mathematics and science, and reducing drop-out before Matric. Without addressing these important issues, the youth wage subsidy programme and the above-mentioned assistance to encourage job search might end up merely decreasing the number of discouraged workseekers but increasing the number of narrow unemployed, while having a temporary and weak positive impact on youth employment, failing to address the important skills mismatch, structural unemployment problem.

2 People in this age cohort are eligible for the youth wage subsidy, proposed by the Finance Minister to be launched on 1 April 2012. However, at the time of the writing, this programme is not yet implemented.

3 For the detailed labour market status derivation algorithm in each OHS and LFS, refer to Yu ( Citation 2007 ).

4 For the detailed labour market status derivation algorithm in the QLFS, refer to Yu ( Citation 2009 ).

5 In the QLFSs, about 90% of discouraged workseekers report ‘no jobs available in the area’ as the reason for not trying to find work or start a business in the last four weeks, while the remaining 10% declare either of the other two reasons.

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Impact of unemployment on communities in South Africa

What is the impact of the high rates of unemployment on certain communities dealing with joblessness, and how does this affect currently employed individuals?

The unemployment rate continues to rise by significant numbers, affecting mostly the youth who remain under strain trying to secure jobs.

Unemployment not only affects citizens who are struggling to find a place in the labour force, but it also affects communities and our society at large.

So, how exactly are South African communities affected by unemployment and what does this mean for them and for society?

Unemployment in South African communities

It is without a doubt that being unemployed can affect individuals in more ways than one. It can play on their psychological and emotional state, potentially affecting the way they view themselves, and often resulting in self-condemnation or feelings of inadequacy and worthlessness.

However, unemployment also affects the broader communities dealing with high levels of unemployment .

You will often find that these communities are dealing with a lack of fundamentals like basic services, and poverty will be rife where unemployment thrives.

Impact of unemployment on the community in South Africa

Unemployment in South Africa has vastly detrimental effects on the people who cannot find jobs, but it also does great harm to communities.

In communities that have high unemployment numbers, you will find that poverty is thriving.

This is due to the fact that these communities not only probably have a scarcity of resources, but are communities with inefficient economic systems where inequality is most likely also rife.

When a community is drowning in unemployment, there is more likely to be scarce employment opportunities, low quality housing, and a lack of access to basic services as a part of human rights, which takes away the human dignity of these people in these communities.

Basically, high unemployment leads to higher levels of poverty in communities.

What are some psychological effects of unemployment?

Unemployment can be damaging psychologically to individuals who are unemployed. Human beings will respond in certain ways to dealing with being unemployed.

The psychological impacts of unemployment can very easily go unnoticed, but they are just as important. One major psychological effect of unemployment is mental illness.

Unemployed individuals are more at risk of developing mental illnesses, which could lead to unhealthy coping mechanisms such as alcohol and substance abuse, depression and anxiety, a lack of self-confidence, and suicidal thoughts.

Stress-related issues can also result in illnesses and diseases.

What is considered unemployment?

If you are a person that is without a job, then you would be considered unemployed. This means you do not have any part-time, full-time, or independent contractor employment position.

If you are actively in search of a job and are currently available to do work but do not have a job, you are also unemployed.

If you are on a temporary layoff, you would also be considered unemployed even if you could possibly be employed again in the same position in the future.

Tips for anyone who is unemployed

Some tips for dealing with unemployment in your life can be helpful. It will encourage you to allow yourself to feel what you are feeling.

Unemployment is one of the most stressful circumstances to deal with, and sometimes allowing yourself to feel emotional about it can be helpful.

It can be best to think of unemployment as a temporary setback and not a permanent one. This can help motivate you, and manifest more positive thoughts to regain your self-confidence.

You can also try to start networking with people in your industry, as this can lead to opportunities.

Final thoughts

The unemployment rate in South Africa is an ongoing fight that only seems to get exacerbated every year. As unemployment keeps rising, it puts unwanted strain on an already struggling economy.

The effects of unemployment can be felt by both jobless individuals and the communities they come from. There are different ways that unemployment negatively affects communities with high rates of joblessness.

Poverty and inequality are the biggest results of unemployment in communities, as well as an absence of access to fundamental basic services due to a lack of efficient economic systems in these areas.

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Home — Essay Samples — Economics — Unemployment — The Issue of Youth Unemployment in South Africa

The Issue of Youth Unemployment in South Africa

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Root causes of youth unemployment, socio-economic consequences, urgent need for innovative solutions.

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Home » Urban unemployment: Where the jobs are in South Africa’s eight metros

Urban unemployment: Where the jobs are in South Africa’s eight metros

Joblessness is above pre-Covid-19 rates, but data shows where the jobs are in South Africa.

South Africans are poorer, facing financial hardships and struggle to land employment, but the eight metros may be the places where the jobs are. 

At 33.5% in the second quarter, the official joblessness rate is above pre-Covid 19 levels.    

According to Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) the economy grew a modest 0.4% in the second quarter of 2024 and the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) recorded a rise in unemployment during the same period.   

Negative numbers 

A total of 33.5% national unemployment and a 60.7% labour force participation mean more economic misery for most.    

There are 40 million people of working age in South Africa. More than eight million are unemployed. An estimated 16 million are employed in both the formal and informal sectors.

The rest are discouraged job seekers, and those who are neither in training, education or employment. People in this group are known as economically inactive.  

Metros’ breakdown 

Some metros outperform the second quarter QLFS unemployment and labour force participation rates national averages while other major municipalities are worse off.    

The City of Cape Town’s 23.4% unemployment and 71% labour force participation rate translate into better prospects in searching for and finding a job.  

eThekwini documented unemployment of 23% and a 60.8% labour force participation rate. Mangaung recorded 30.5% unemployment and a 60.1% labour force participation rate. 

Labour lowdown 

Nelson Mandela Bay had 30.9% unemployment and a 57% labour force participation rate. Buffalo City’s unemployment was 33.7%, with a 67.5% labour force participation rate.

Gauteng trio  

Gauteng’s three metros – Ekurhuleni, Johannesburg and Tshwane – had varying outcomes. 

In Ekurhuleni, Gauteng’s industrial hub, the unemployment rate was 33.4% and labour force participation 66.2%. 

Johannesburg, the province’s economic powerhouse and financial hub, had an unemployment rate of 34.3% and 72% labour force participation. 

In Tshwane, home to South Africa’s capital city and the seat of executive power, unemployment was 35.3%, with 71% labour force participation.  

Where the jobs are

A Nedbank Group Economic Unit analysis of the QLFS figures said manufacturing and mining continued to create new jobs. 

“The sectoral breakdown shows mixed performances,” said the Nedbank Group Economic Unit. “Most … job losses occurred in the domestic trade sector, which shed 111,000 jobs or 3.2% over the quarter, reversing the 109,000 jobs created in [the first quarter].” 

Macro problems

In a statement following a post-financing assessment of South Africa, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said real per capita GDP had been declining over the last decade.

Per capita GDP is a measure of average incomes per person. That effectively means South Africans’ incomes have been declining or stagnant while the cost of living has been rising. The South African has reported on the gendered nature of income in the country. 

Worryingly, according to the IMF, poverty in South Africa is triple that of the Group of 20 emerging-market median. 

Government response

The National Treasury said: “While recognising the macroeconomic challenges highlighted by the IMF, the … government has affirmed its commitment to prioritise rapid, inclusive and sustainable economic growth to tackle prevailing high levels of poverty and inequality.”

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The racial divide in South Africa's economy

JOHANNESBURG - Thirty years after the end of apartheid, South Africa's economy remains deeply divided by race, spurring political debate on the extent to which its flagship Black economic empowerment law has worked. 

Here are some facts about South Africa's racial divide.

UNEMPLOYMENT 

South Africa has struggled for years with low economic growth and high unemployment. The official unemployment rate was 33.5% in April-June of this year. 

During that period, the unemployment rate was 37.6% among Black South Africans and 7.9% among white South Africans, according to the statistics agency. It was 23.3% among South Africans of mixed race.

The unemployment rate among Black people has consistently been higher than the national average over the past decade, and has risen more than nine percentage points since 2014, Statistics South Africa said. 

MANAGEMENT CONTROL

In the private sector, white people occupied 65.9% of top management level posts while Black people occupied 13.8% in 2022, according to South Africa's Commission for Employment Equity.

South Africa's population of 64 million is about 8% white, official data shows.

The statistics show that the percentage of Black people increases as the job level goes down to senior, professional, skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled.

At the unskilled labour level, white people occupied 0.9% of jobs in the private sector and Black people 82.8% in 2022. 

Average Black ownership of companies on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange was almost 30% in 2022, according to the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Commission, which includes other minority groups such as mixed race and Asian people in its count. 

However, the report is based on a small sample size of firms that submitted their information. One economist calculated that actual Black ownership among listed companies was about 1%.

Board membership on listed companies was around 47% Black in 2022, the Commission said in its latest report, adding that this showed potential progress but that limited data meant it did not necessarily represent industry performance.

"No entity registered 100% Black-owned within the JSE listed companies," it said. REUTERS

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