Job Search and the Measurement of Unemployment in South Africa

Abstract

We interrogate the distinction between searching and non-searching unemployment in South Africa using data from the first national panel survey that tracks the individual. In particular, we test whether the non-searching unemployed display a weaker commitment to the labour market than the searching unemployed, and we investigate what counts as search activity. We find that over the panel, the search status of the unemployed does not predict their subsequent employment status, a result that is robust also for subsamples that vary by age cohort, gender and location. Moreover, social networks are the most important job-finding strategy of the employed. These findings challenge the exclusion of the non-searching unemployed from the measure of "genuine" work seekers. JEL Classification: J64, J6

Cash Transfers, Labor Supply, and Gender Inequality: Evidence from South Africa

“…to include other factors of heterogeneity, in addition to gender, that may affect the decision of women and men to participate in the labor market after receiving the CSG. As shown by a large body of literature (Burger and von Fintel, 2014;Fourie and Leibbrandt, 2012;Kingdon and Knight, 2006;Posel et al, 2006;Posel et al, 2014, Yu, 2013a, 2013b, among many others), education influences the benefits and costs of participating in the labor market, and thus, we may expect different behavioral responses to the CSG for more-educated and less-educated women or men. In more detail, education (matriculation, in particular) encourages labor force participation and job search and increases employment prospects (Fourie and Leibbrandt, 2012) 18 A similar argument applies when considering the urban/rural dichotomy and families receiving only the CSG vs. those receiving both the CSG and the OAP (see Section 2) 19 .…”

Health risks and informal employment in South Africa: does formality protect health?

“…20 There is a high unemployment rate, which sits at 25.2% at the ''standard definition'' (which excludes discouraged job seekers from the definition of the unemployed) and 35.9% at the ''expanded definition'' (which includes the discouraged job seekers). 21 It is also a highly regulated country with relatively good provision of basic services such as sanitation and waste management, although these tend to be unevenly distributed. 22 The presence of a relatively sound basic services infrastructure does mean that working conditions in informal workplaces are likely to be better than in countries where such services are lacking.…”

Urban “slums” and social mobility

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“…This broad measure of unemployment is used throughout the article. The appropriateness of this measure is discussed in Kingdon and Knight () and Posel, Casale, and Vermaak ().…”