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Education and Youth Unemployment in South Africa

Author

Listed:
  • David Lam

    (Economics Department, University of Michigan)

  • Murray Leibbrandt

    (SALDRU, School of Economics, University of Cape Town)

  • Cecil Mlatsheni

    (School of Economics, University of Cape Town)

Abstract

The problem of high youth unemployment is a global phenomenon. According to an International Labour Office study in 2004, youth (15-24) make up nearly half (47%) of the world's unemployed, 88 million out of 186 million, even though youth are only 25% of the world's working age population. Of the world's 550 million working poor who cannot lift themselves above US $1 per day poverty measure, 150 million are youth. The ILO estimated in 2004 that halving global youth unemployment would increase global GDP by US $2.2 trillion, 4% of global GDP. These statistics lend weight to the notion that youth unemployment is a problem worthy of attention. In addition, one may argue that addressing unemployment in general would also lower poverty levels and add to GDP (World Bank 2006).

Suggested Citation

  • David Lam & Murray Leibbrandt & Cecil Mlatsheni, 2008. "Education and Youth Unemployment in South Africa," SALDRU Working Papers 22, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
    • Handle: RePEc:ldr:wpaper:22
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    File URL: https://opensaldru.uct.ac.za/bitstream/handle/11090/33/2008_22.pdf?sequence=1
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Geeta G. Kingdon & John B. Knight, 2000. "Are searching and non-searching unemployment distinct states when unemployment is high? The case of South Africa," CSAE Working Paper Series 2000-02, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    2. Taryn Dinkelman, 2004. "How Household Context Affects Search Outcomes Of The Unemployed In Kwazulu‐Natal, South Africa," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 72(3), pages 484-521, September.
    3. Lam, David & Ardington, Cally & Leibbrandt, Murray, 2011. "Schooling as a lottery: Racial differences in school advancement in urban South Africa," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(2), pages 121-136, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Zimmermann, Klaus F. & Biavaschi, Costanza & Eichhorst, Werner & Giulietti, Corrado & Kendzia, Michael J. & Muravyev, Alexander & Pieters, Janneke & Rodríguez-Planas, Núria & Schmidl, Ricarda, 2013. "Youth Unemployment and Vocational Training," Foundations and Trends(R) in Microeconomics, now publishers, vol. 9(1–2), pages 1-157, December.
    2. Levinsohn, James & Pugatch, Todd, 2014. "Prospective analysis of a wage subsidy for Cape Town youth," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 169-183.
    3. Derek Yu, 2012. "Youths in the South African labour market since the transition: A study of changes between 1995 and 2011," Working Papers 18/2012, Stellenbosch University, Department of Economics.
    4. Derek Yu, 2013. "Youth unemployment in South Africa since 2000 revisited," Working Papers 04/2013, Stellenbosch University, Department of Economics.
    5. Pugatch, Todd, 2012. "Bumpy Rides: School to Work Transitions in South Africa," IZA Discussion Papers 6305, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Carlos Bozzoli, 2010. "A Lost Generation? Long Term Socioeconomic Outcomes in Orphans," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1069, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    7. Anthony Kambi MASHA & Elvin SHAVA & Tafadzwa MAMBIRAVANA & Patrick William BWOWE, 2022. "Promoting Youth Empowerment through Business Mentorship in South Africa," Prizren Social Science Journal, SHIKS, vol. 6(1), pages 48-57, April.
    8. Faik Bilgili & Ilhan Ozturk & Emrah Kocak & Umit Bulut, 2017. "Energy Consumption-Youth Unemployment Nexus in Europe: Evidence from Panel Cointegration and Panel Causality Analyses," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 7(2), pages 193-201.
    9. Kirsten Stoebenau & Sangeetha Madhavan & Emily Smith‐Greenaway & Heide Jackson, 2021. "Economic Inequality and Divergence in Family Formation in Sub‐Saharan Africa," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 47(4), pages 887-912, December.
    10. Burns, Justine & Edwards, Lawrence & Pauw, Karl, 2010. "Wage subsidies to combat unemployment and poverty," IFPRI discussion papers 969, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    11. Asiya Maskaeva & Mgeni Msafiri, 2021. "Youth unemployment hysteresis in South Africa: Macro-micro analysis," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2021-20, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    12. Bozzoli, Carlos G., 2016. "Orphanhood and fertility in young adults: Evidence from South Africa," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 190-200.
    13. Burger, Rulof & Ito, Seiro, 2016. "Labour market turnovers among South African youths," IDE Discussion Papers 603, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    14. Halabi, Izdehar & kourani, Jana, 2021. "Determinants of Unemployment Status: Indicating College Majors that reduces the Unemployment Status in Lebanon," MPRA Paper 111702, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 08 Feb 2022.

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