BUSI MAVUSO: Youth Day and a ballooning unemployment crisis among the young
The economy is clearly not creating jobs for this important segment of our population
In a week’s time we will mark 45 years since the June 1976 Soweto protests that would prove to be one of the most important dates in our struggle against apartheid. Today, we are still struggling with transformation in our journey towards a more equitable and just country. In that pursuit, we need to pay much greater attention to the plight of the youth. Their struggles paint an alarming picture.
The official unemployment rate in the 15-34 age bracket sits at 46.3%, according to Stats SA’s latest quarterly labour survey. In the 2020 report from the International Labour Organization (ILO), the global youth unemployment rate stands at 13.6%. There is a little difference, however, in the definitions of youth: the ILO defines it as between the ages of 15 and 24. When I rummaged through that age range in the numbers from Stats SA, the UN youth definition makes up about 18.4% of the record 7.2-million-plus South Africans who are unemployed. ..
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