Why Are They Not Looking for Employment? A South African Youth Perspective

Abstract

It is with no doubt that unemployment, particularly among young people remains one of the most contentious issues confronting the global economy. This is not unique to South Africa as twenty-five years into democracy, unemployment remains one of the most persistent challenges with the official unemployment rate at 29 percent (one of the highest in the world) from 27.6 percent in the first quarter of 2019. The youth remain the most vulnerable with stubbornly high unemployment rates of 56.4 percent for those in the 15-24 age category and 35.6 percent for those between the ages of 25-34, and if they are working, mostly are in low quality paying and temporary employment. The fact that poverty and inequality have continued to rise, despite considerable improvements and policy strives the country has made post-apartheid, has raised questions about the country's ability to create jobs and most importantly about the factors behind the youth's reasons for not searching for employment. Using data collected through the 2019 second quarterly labour force survey by Statistics South Africa with a sample size of 4 544 unemployed youth respondents, the study made use of descriptive analysis and cross tabulations to explore the South African youth's perception of the reasons why are they not looking for employment, over and above the reasons why they are unemployed. A chi-square test was used to further determine whether there are significant differences in the responses. It is believed that understanding these perceptions will perhaps provide a clear root cause to the issue which can assist with the implementation of adequate policies and may explain the effort or lack in young people's endeavours to address their situation. The findings of the study were statistically significant at the 0.01 significance level, and prove the necessity to create conditions for sustainable employment opportunities, which will be augmented by a growing economy. The findings of the study provide valuable insights within the context of South Africa as a developing country and more so, from the view point of the supply side of the youth labour market.

A socio-ecological analysis of postgraduate students lived experiences while at university.

“…Lie (2007) argues, that there is to an extent a mismatch between the graduate skill supply and the skills being required for the workplace as graduates are highly academic orientated and lack insights on the latest developments and workplace applicable skills. Mncayi (2021) explains that there is a mismatch between educational institution's throughput and the labour market skills demand. Consequently, this gives rise to graduate redundancy or underemployment -where an individual is employed in a position that is lower to them by some standard (for example: low income, longer working hours, over qualification etcetera).…”

“…A study conducted by Moleke (2005) revealed that the field of arts and humanities accounts for the highest percentage of graduate unemployment, therefore highlighting an over-supply of these graduates and a misalignment with the job market requirements. Mncayi (2021) argues that this is an issue that should be interrogated with the Higher Education Institutions as to why students are enabled to continue to enroll in non-critical courses that do not contribute to the skills demand of the labour market.…”

“…Noticeable in the literature is that some groups bear an unequal share of the burden of graduate joblessness than others, namely the African graduate group (Backer, 2007, Oosthuizen, 2006, Mncayi 2021, Van de Rheede, 2012, Du Toit, 2003, Moleke, 2005, Van Broekhuizen, 2005.…”

“…Oosthuizen (2006) elaborates that African graduates account for the highest share of graduate unemployment, with the black graduate unemployment rate being six times more than that of white graduates. In a study done by Mncayi (2021) on graduate unemployment, 80. 8% of the unemployed graduates were African.…”