Youth Capital works to help solve the main challenges that face South Africa's youth with work that expands far greater than this.
Unemployment is one of South Africa's most pressing issues, especially amongst the youth. The situation shows little signs of improvement, and is made worse by debilitating periods of loadshedding and the high cost of living.
There are not enough available jobs for South Africa's youth; no job results in no money, but even with some kind of income, everything required for survival is expensive and unaffordable during this rising economic climate.
The Youth Unemployment Challenge In South Africa
While roughly one million South Africans leave school each year, approximately 57% remain unemployed. A further 28% enter the post-schooling education sector, while only the remaining 15% secure employment.
The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) reports that the unemployment rate amongst youth aged 15-24 is staggering in comparison to the unemployment rate amongst those ages 25-34 years old.
The Presidential Youth Employment Initiative (PYEI) in the Basic Education Sector aims to provide jobs to South Africa’s young people between the age of 18 and 34 years old, in an effort to alleviate some of the high unemployment levels amongst the youth.
Some of those employed by the PYEI work in schools as teaching and general assistants. Phase Four of the PYEI has officially kicked off for the 2023 academic year.
Youth Capital conducted research that revealed young people were spending up to R1000 per month on data and transport costs.
Data prices have been incredibly steep for a few years now, even igniting the #DataMustFall movement in 2017. Public transport systems such as taxis have also seen an increase in fares, while drivers of these taxis are feeling the pinch of the hiked petrol prices.
Like food and electricity, travelling by taxi and other forms of public transport is a basic necessity for many South Africans.
Having a Tertiary Qualification Does Not Guarantee Employment
In the 2023 academic year, the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has funded more than one million students so that they can pursue higher education.
Receiving a post-school qualification opens more doors for these students, however, it is not enough for the students who fall into the “missing middle” category.
Still, even with more funding opportunities for youth, South Africa has a growing labour market, which the economy cannot keep up with. Another issue of this was seen earlier this year when our tertiary institutions were faced with a critical student accommodation shortage.
In the last 25 years, South Africa has seen more and more young people applying to colleges and universities.
Higher learning institutions have been unable to accommodate this oversupply of students, and now we are seeing the same issue when these students graduate and enter the job market. So, even graduates with a high level of education remain jobless.
A lack of relevant work experience, limited social capital and insufficient resources for job searching can also account for the high unemployment rate.
Kristal Duncan-Williams, project head of Youth Capital, says that businesses should assist employees that fall under the youth by offering to pay for their taxi fares or buying them a gig of data, if it's a work-from-home job.
Young people are just not work ready; Youth Capital has spent quite a bit of time since last year talking to small business owners (and in the New Year again), and young people just don't have the skills they need for the workplace.
Youth Capital's Role in Alleviating Unemployment Amongst Young South Africans
Youth Capital is a youth-led campaign for driving changes in youth unemployment in South Africa, connecting the voices of young people and their lived experiences with research, evidence and data, which is then brought together with other stakeholders in the sector.
Youth Capital is not the only initiative or campaign working to solve some of the youth unemployment crisis.
In response to the dire youth unemployment challenges the country is dealing with, The Department of Science and Technology, the HSRC and the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) have established and implemented a number of internship programmes and Presidential Youth Employment Initiatives (PYEI) in an effort to provide opportunities to young people.
One of the most successful of these campaigns is the PYEI, where young people were given employment as teacher assistants at schools around the country. This initiative saw over one million jobs being created as a result.
Besides providing employment opportunities, this initiative has had positive results, such as providing an income for many young people who are the only breadwinners in their families, as well as helping others find their passion and purpose.
Duncan-Williams says the PYEI "[kills] two birds with one stone".
You get young people getting work experience, and all public schools across the country [are] getting extra hands in the classroom to assist learners, many of whom we know from the last full study, cannot read for meaning.
Duncan-Williams goes on to mention that helping a young person in a small way can have a greater impact, whether that's helping them write a CV or conducting a mock interview in preparation for the real thing.
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