IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eco/journ1/2022-05-11.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Interaction of Unemployment, Socioeconomic Factors and Demographic Dividend in South Africa: Issues and Policy Options

Author

Listed:
  • Mpho Nkhumeleni

    (University of the Western Cape, South Africa,)

  • Nancy Stiegler

    (University of the Western Cape, South Africa,)

  • Kanayo Ogujiuba

    (University of Mpumalanga, South Africa.)

Abstract

Unemployment is a major barrier to achieving a successful demographic dividend in many countries, including South Africa. A shortage of skills and knowledge among the working-age population is one of the key issues. The objective of this article is to examine if there is a link between youth unemployment in South Africa and demographic indicators. This article examines the relationship between educational achievement and employment status among working-age South Africans. Secondary data was used, and desktop analysis was performed on the information gathered from the Quarterly Labour Force Survey of 2017 and 2019. Findings show a link between youth unemployment and demographic characteristics, as well as a link between educational attainment and work status in South Africa. According to our findings, when it comes to gender and employment possibilities, women have a harder time finding jobs than men. in addition, being black or African makes it more challenging to find a job compared to other demographic groups. This suggests that more must be done in the labor market for South Africa's economy to grow. Youth labor force involvement must be increased in the future to reduce the number of discouraged job seekers. Government initiatives that promote labor market flexibility should be implemented.

Suggested Citation

  • Mpho Nkhumeleni & Nancy Stiegler & Kanayo Ogujiuba, 2022. "Interaction of Unemployment, Socioeconomic Factors and Demographic Dividend in South Africa: Issues and Policy Options," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 12(5), pages 95-105, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:eco:journ1:2022-05-11
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econjournals.com/index.php/ijefi/article/download/13388/6891
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.econjournals.com/index.php/ijefi/article/view/13388
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David E. Bloom & David Canning & Bryan Graham, 2003. "Longevity and Life‐cycle Savings," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 105(3), pages 319-338, September.
    2. Deaton, Angus & Paxson, Christina, 1994. "Intertemporal Choice and Inequality," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 102(3), pages 437-467, June.
    3. Allen Kelley & Robert Schmidt, 2005. "Evolution of recent economic-demographic modeling: A synthesis," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 18(2), pages 275-300, June.
    4. Murray Leibbrandt & Ingrid Woolard & Arden Finn & Jonathan Argent, 2010. "Trends in South African Income Distribution and Poverty since the Fall of Apartheid," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 101, OECD Publishing.
    5. Ogujiuba Kanayo & Fadila Jumare, 2012. "Sustainable Development in Developing Countries: Case Studies of Sustainable Consumption and Production in South Africa and India," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 4(9), pages 489-496.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Prskawetz, A. & Kogel, T. & Sanderson, W.C. & Scherbov, S., 2007. "The effects of age structure on economic growth: An application of probabilistic forecasting to India," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 587-602.
    2. Munir Ahmad & Rana Ejaz Ali Khan, 2019. "Does Demographic Transition with Human Capital Dynamics Matter for Economic Growth? A Dynamic Panel Data Approach to GMM," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 142(2), pages 753-772, April.
    3. Thomas Flochel & Yuki Ikeda & Harry Moroz & Nithin Umapathi, 2014. "Macroeconomic Implications of Aging in East Asia Pacific," World Bank Publications - Reports 23026, The World Bank Group.
    4. David, DE LA CROIX & Bo, MALMBERG, 2006. "Growth and Longevity from the Industrial Revolution to the Future of an Aging Society," Discussion Papers (ECON - Département des Sciences Economiques) 2006037, Université catholique de Louvain, Département des Sciences Economiques.
    5. David E. Bloom & Alex Khoury & Vadim Kufenko & Klaus Prettner, 2021. "Spurring Economic Growth through Human Development: Research Results and Guidance for Policymakers," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 47(2), pages 377-409, June.
    6. Kotschy, Rainer, 2022. "Health improvements impact income inequality," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 22(C).
    7. Uddin, Gazi A. & Alam, Khorshed & Gow, Jeff, 2016. "Population age structure and savings rate impacts on economic growth: Evidence from Australia," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 23-33.
    8. Joel Alejandro Rosado & Mar a Isabel Alvarado S nchez, 2017. "From Population Age Structure and Savings Rate to Economic Growth: Evidence from Ecuador," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 7(3), pages 352-361.
    9. de la Croix, David & Lindh, Thomas & Malmberg, Bo, 2009. "Demographic change and economic growth in Sweden: 1750-2050," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 132-148, March.
    10. Jeffrey G. Williamson, 2013. "Demographic Dividends Revisited," Asian Development Review, MIT Press, vol. 30(2), pages 1-25, September.
    11. Taguchi, Hiroyuki, 2021. "A revisit to effects of demographic dynamics on economic growth in Asia," MPRA Paper 110609, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Esso, Loesse Jacques, 2009. "La dépendance démographique est-elle un obstacle à l’épargne et à la croissance en Côte d’Ivoire?," L'Actualité Economique, Société Canadienne de Science Economique, vol. 85(4), pages 361-382, décembre.
    13. Hiroyuki Taguchi & Ni Lar & Sereyvuth Ky, 2021. "Revisiting the effects of demographic dynamics on economic growth in Asia: a panel vector‐autoregressive approach with a saving channel," Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, The Crawford School, The Australian National University, vol. 35(2), pages 77-94, November.
    14. Taguchi, Hiroyuki & Latjin, Mirani, 2022. "The effects of demographic dynamics on economic growth in EU economies: A panel vector autoregressive approach," MPRA Paper 113596, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Pascual-Saez, Marta & Cantarero-Prieto, David & Pires Manso, José R., 2020. "Does population ageing affect savings in Europe?," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 291-306.
    16. World Bank, 2013. "EU11 Regular Economic Report, Issue #26, January 2013," World Bank Publications - Reports 16489, The World Bank Group.
    17. Koji Yasuda & Tomoko Kinugasa, 2022. "Effects of adult mortality rate on educational attainment: empirical analysis using cross-country panel data," International Journal of Economic Policy Studies, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 409-422, August.
    18. Francisco Alvarez-Cuadrado & Ngo Van Long, 2012. "Envy and Inequality," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 114(3), pages 949-973, September.
    19. Dedry, Antoine & Onder, Harun & Pestieau, Pierre, 2017. "Aging, social security design, and capital accumulation," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 9(C), pages 145-155.
    20. Sato, Sumie & Fukushige, Mototsugu, 2009. "Globalization and economic inequality in the short and long run: The case of South Korea 1975-1995," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 62-68, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Demographic; Dividend; Employment; Education;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A12 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Relation of Economics to Other Disciplines
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J11 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eco:journ1:2022-05-11. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Ilhan Ozturk (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.econjournals.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.