Education and employment following apartheid protests

Demonstrations, rallies, boycotts, and other forms of protest were common under apartheid in South Africa. Using a compilation of more than 150 geocoded protests between 1948 and 1990, this paper compares people affected and unaffected by protests at every age throughout childhood. Exposure to protests before age 14 was associated with 2.7 percent fewer years of completed schooling. This difference was larger following violent protests, and for African residents of South Africa. On the other hand, people who experienced protests as children were up to 6.9 percent more likely to be employed as adults. The paper considers social solidarity as a possible channel connecting protests to changes in education and employment, and finds that places that had more protests during apartheid had lower reported levels of trust and physical safety in the years after apartheid ended.