The youth unemployment has been the number one challenge in South Africa (SA) for long now. It is a socioeconomic challenge that has triggered other social evils like high crime rate and prostitution. This problem is even more prevalent among the poor and the middle-income segment of the population. According to the 2013 data, the jobless rate in SA stood at 63% among the youths. The state of youth unemployment in South Africa is a perennial problem that results from a failure of policies.
It is estimated that one-third of those aged 14 to 24 are jobless and are not in any active education or training. This situation results mainly from the prevailing economic conditions. The personality trait also has a major contribution to the joblessness situation. Most of these people have low levels of education, the majority having dropped out of school at early age.
Other traits that are saleable in the labor market such as good communication skills, work experience, literacy, and technical skills are often missing. This situation resulted from decades of structural failures in the side of the government.
For long, the government had been focusing on the supply side policies to address the problem while doing very little to stimulate the demand side. On the supply side, the focus has been to make formal education accessible to all, regardless of the social background. This is then supplemented with post-school technical trainings, public employment, and the deployment programs. It is a good strategy, but if the employers cannot absorb the graduates, the country ends up with many jobless graduates. This is what SA is witnessing.
The Community Work Program (CWP) is a good example. It started in 2008 is designed as an employment safety net. It targets to supplement the livelihood by guaranteeing the job that offers some basic salary. It copies from the renowned Indian program known as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA). It is a program that targets to raise the standards of living among the poor.
The other program that has been implemented in South Africa to address the challenge is the public deployment program. Though not widespread, the program is usually implemented through the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA). The program generally targets the youths that are not employed and those that lack the requisite skills needed for the job market. It takes 12 months and impacts the technical skills that are in high demand to the trainees.
There is also the National Rural Youth Service Corps that is being implemented in phases. The first phase was in 2010. It lasts for 2 years and involves intensive training with the aim of impacting skills of those being trained. The graduates are then expected to undertake community development projects and are paid by the government.
In addition to the supply side policies, there are a number of demand-side policies that target the employer. In order to stimulate the demand on the labor market, employment subsidy has been proposed. It targets to compensate the employers on the cost used to train the new employees.There are several other proposals on the table, however, all interventions must take into consideration the structural complexity presented by unemployment statistics in South Africa.
It is estimated that one-third of those aged 14 to 24 are jobless and are not in any active education or training. This situation results mainly from the prevailing economic conditions. The personality trait also has a major contribution to the joblessness situation. Most of these people have low levels of education, the majority having dropped out of school at early age.
Other traits that are saleable in the labor market such as good communication skills, work experience, literacy, and technical skills are often missing. This situation resulted from decades of structural failures in the side of the government.
For long, the government had been focusing on the supply side policies to address the problem while doing very little to stimulate the demand side. On the supply side, the focus has been to make formal education accessible to all, regardless of the social background. This is then supplemented with post-school technical trainings, public employment, and the deployment programs. It is a good strategy, but if the employers cannot absorb the graduates, the country ends up with many jobless graduates. This is what SA is witnessing.
The Community Work Program (CWP) is a good example. It started in 2008 is designed as an employment safety net. It targets to supplement the livelihood by guaranteeing the job that offers some basic salary. It copies from the renowned Indian program known as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA). It is a program that targets to raise the standards of living among the poor.
The other program that has been implemented in South Africa to address the challenge is the public deployment program. Though not widespread, the program is usually implemented through the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA). The program generally targets the youths that are not employed and those that lack the requisite skills needed for the job market. It takes 12 months and impacts the technical skills that are in high demand to the trainees.
There is also the National Rural Youth Service Corps that is being implemented in phases. The first phase was in 2010. It lasts for 2 years and involves intensive training with the aim of impacting skills of those being trained. The graduates are then expected to undertake community development projects and are paid by the government.
In addition to the supply side policies, there are a number of demand-side policies that target the employer. In order to stimulate the demand on the labor market, employment subsidy has been proposed. It targets to compensate the employers on the cost used to train the new employees.There are several other proposals on the table, however, all interventions must take into consideration the structural complexity presented by unemployment statistics in South Africa.
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