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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

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    1. 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.
    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.
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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. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. Burns, Justine & Edwards, Lawrence & Pauw, Karl, 2010. "Wage subsidies to combat unemployment and poverty," IFPRI discussion papers 969, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    7. 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).
    8. Bozzoli, Carlos G., 2016. "Orphanhood and fertility in young adults: Evidence from South Africa," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 190-200.
    9. 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).
    10. 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.
    11. 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.
    12. 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.
    13. Derek Yu, 2013. "Youth unemployment in South Africa since 2000 revisited," Working Papers 04/2013, Stellenbosch University, Department of Economics.
    14. Pugatch, Todd, 2012. "Bumpy Rides: School to Work Transitions in South Africa," IZA Discussion Papers 6305, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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