Youth employment

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Youth employment Cecil Mlatsheni School of
Economics and Southern Africa Labour
Development Research Unit University of Cape
Town Email cmlatshe_at_commerce.uct.ac.za Tel
[phone]
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Introduction

• SA youth unemployment is estimated to be 47 by
  the narrow definition or over 60 by the broad
  definition.
• Racial disparities are significant
• Throughout Africa youth tend to migrate to cities
  for economic and other reasons
• However, they are often perceived to be a threat
  or a nuisance in the urban environment.
• In SA distortion to traditional family relations
  caused by the fight against apartheid contributed
  to the negative perceptions of youth.
• Effort has to be directed at tackling the plight
  of marginalised youth because to an extent it is
  society that is failing youth.

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From the youths perspective

• Evidence throughout Africa suggests that youth
  wish/need to be involved in policies about them.
• In connection with this, youth perceptions of the
  labour market are worth investigating.
• 2002 initial wave of the Cape Area Panel Study
  (CAPS) conducted on 4 752 youth in 1472
  households.
• Racial profile of Cape Town, according to the
  2001 census, is 32 African, 48 Coloured, 1.5
  Indian, and 19 White.
• CAPS data indicates that the perceptions of 14-22
  year olds were rather gloomy in 2002 but had
  surprisingly improved in 2004.
• But these upbeat expectations need to be realised
  or else long-term unemployment may erode the
  psychological fibre of youth.

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Challenges to finding employment

• Distance and costs predominantly affects black
  youth where townships are often situated far from
  centres of business activity
• Networks most common method of finding
  employment
• But they are often poor for black youth
• Catch-22 situation of black youth resorting to
  networks because of lack of financial resources
  to search.
• Possible policy intervention would be to
  facilitate the dissemination of information about
  job opportunities and promote awareness of
  programmes.

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The importance of early work-experience

• Work-experience affects employability at all age
  levels
• However, early work-experience in particular has
  been documented as having enormous benefits such
  as
• transition from school to work, choosing a
  career, instilling a number of desirable employer
  related characteristics
• Indeed international evidence indicates that high
  school graduates who worked while at school tend
  to obtain better quality employment.

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• CAPS shows that whites make a smooth transition
  from school to work, less so for coloureds and
  Africans.
• 19 of White, 7 of coloured and 1 African youth
  were studying and working simultaneously.
• However, the non-studying unemployed youth are
  possibly the most marginalised.
• CAPS indicates that 93 of white, 63 of coloured
  and 1 of African youth had worked within 12
  months prior to the interview.
• Literacy experts highlight the importance of
  language and numeracy and locate the source of
  the problem far earlier
• The average language age of seven year old pupils
  from disadvantaged backgrounds is reported to be
  equivalent to that of 3 to 4 year olds
• 32 of sampled WC grade 3 pupils can read at the
  level set in the national curriculum while 37
  meet the numeracy requirements
• Implications are these children are trapped in
  catch-up mode for most or all of their schooling
  and are not likely to reap the full benefits of
  their schooling

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Policy related considerations

• The role of aggregate demand chief influence on
  youth unemployment
• Implications are that skills-training initiatives
  will not immediately succeed and may gain stigma
  of failure
• But it is a complex issue in that increased
  business activity depends on appropriately
  skilled personnel.

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Quality of education

• Besides the poor performance of primary school
  pupils, matric exemption passes are a concern
• In 2002 69 passed matric but only 25 did so
  with matric endorsement.
• At tertiary institutions, 82 of first year
  students are reported to be functionally
  illiterate with a literacy level below that of
  grade 8 while 60 are failing to cope with the
  level of mathematics and science offered at
  university
• Official estimates are that15 000 teachers per
  year are lost to the profession, compared to only
  5 000 who enter

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FET colleges

• Arguably the most important providers of
  intermediate-level technical and vocational
  skills
• They are in the first instance reported to be
  under resourced and often not situated where they
  are most needed
• Thus far only 34 of their graduates, aggregated
  across all fields, find employment
• But mainly in commerce and engineering
• However, as a many as 80 - 90 of FET graduates
  in cookery, hairdressing and hospitality find
  employment
• Apprenticeships have declined and this impacts
  disproportionately on youth as they make up the
  bulk of the unemployed
• Learnerships are not a substitute as they are
  more suited to workers employed in the formal
  economy whereas the most vulnerable youth are
  either unemployed or engaged in survivalist
  micro-enterprises

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Promoting wage employment

• Work experience versus vocational training
• A combination of both has been found to produce
  the best results.
• Work experience programmes tend to produce a
  deadweight effect
• Vocational training programmes generally do not
  facilitate access to employers and job specific
  training

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Targeting programmes

• Closely targeted programmes are better designed
  to meet the needs of a specific group
• Consideration should be given to whether focus
  should be on the most vulnerable youth or those
  that are most likely to enhance a programmes
  success rate.

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Decentralisation of programmes

• Implementation of programmes should be at the
  local level so that they are more relevant to
  local needs.
• However, standards may vary therefore monitoring
  should occur at national level.

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Youth and entrepreneurship challenges
experienced in Africa

• Starting capital is hard to acquire
• Youth attitude giving up too soon or changing
  ideas
• Interference from significant others with the
  advice given by business mentors
• Cultural expectations and conventions.
• Crime as a deterrent to entrepreneurial activity

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Youth entrepreneurship what has worked

• Believe in the youth and develop their idea
  rather than prescribing one
• Allocate mentors to youth and use successful
  entrepreneurs as role models
• Visit sites that youth entrepreneurs are
  operating from.