IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ldr/wpaper/7.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The South African Labour Market 1995-2004: A Cohort Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Nicola Branson

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

Abstract

This paper constructs a 'synthetic panel' from successive years of the October Household Surveys and Labour Force Surveys, and shows that new insights into the South African labour market are revealed when groups of individuals, defined by their date of birth, are followed from 1995 to 2004. Three main features of the South African labour market post-95 are highlighted. First, the age at which young Africans become economically active, i.e. transit from school into the labour force, is continually declining. Second, this increasing supply of labour to the market is not being absorbed into employment resulting in a growing pool of unemployed youth. Third, the proportion of the population employed is extremely stable over the ten-year period for all ages. These findings have implications for the future focus of labour policy as rising unemployment is primarily a consequence of increased youth participation and not due to a decline in the availability of jobs.

Suggested Citation

  • Nicola Branson, 2006. "The South African Labour Market 1995-2004: A Cohort Analysis," SALDRU Working Papers 7, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
    • Handle: RePEc:ldr:wpaper:7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://opensaldru.uct.ac.za/bitstream/handle/11090/47/06_07.pdf?sequence=1
    File Function: Full text
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Charles Meth, 2006. "What was the poverty headcount in 2004 and how does it compare to recent estimates by van der Berg et al?," SALDRU Working Papers 1, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
    2. Paul Allanson & Jonathan P. Atkins & Timothy Hinks, 2002. "No End to the Racial Wage Hierarchy in South Africa?," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(3), pages 442-459, October.
    3. Haroon Bhorat, 2004. "Labour Market Challenges In The Post‐Apartheid South Africa," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 72(5), pages 940-977, December.
    4. Morne Oosthuizen & Haroon Bhorat, 2005. "The Post-Apartheid South African Labour Market," Working Papers 05093, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.
    5. Daniela Casale & Dorrit Posel, 2002. "The Continued Feminisation Of The Labour Force In South Africa," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 70(1), pages 156-184, March.
    6. Germano Mwabu, 2002. "Working Paper 38 - Health Development in Africa," Working Paper Series 172, African Development Bank.
    7. E. Paul Durrenberger, 2005. "Labour," Chapters, in: James G. Carrier (ed.), A Handbook of Economic Anthropology, chapter 8, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. Matthew Breier & Martine Visser, 2006. "The Free Rider Problem in Community-Based Rural Water Supply: A Game Theoretic Analysis," SALDRU Working Papers 5, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
    9. Mortensen, Dale T. & Pissarides, Christopher A., 1999. "New developments in models of search in the labor market," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 39, pages 2567-2627, Elsevier.
    10. Taryn Dinkelman & Farah Pirouz, 2002. "Individual, Household And Regional Determinants Of Labour Force Attachment In South Africa:," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 70(5), pages 865-891, June.
    11. Sharmla Govender-van Wyk & Deon Wilson, 2006. "Utilisation of Commonages for Sustainable Tourism Opportunities for the Poor in Namaqualand, South Africa," SALDRU Working Papers 4, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
    12. Daniela Casale, 2004. "What has the Feminisation of the Labour Market ‘Bought’ Women in South Africa? Trends in Labour Force Participation, Employment and Earnings, 1995-2001," Working Papers 04084, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.
    13. Lundberg, Shelly, 1985. "The Added Worker Effect," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 3(1), pages 11-37, January.
    14. Jasmin Jakoet, 2006. "Assimilation of Immigrants to the Cape Town Labour Market," SALDRU Working Papers 3, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
    15. Daniela Casale, 2004. "What has the Feminisation of the Labour Market ‘Bought’ Women in South Africa? Trends in Labour Force Participation, Employment and Earnings, 1995–2001," Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics, , vol. 15(3-4), pages 251-275, July.
    16. Francie Lund & Cally Ardington, 2006. "Employment status, security, and the management of risk: a study of workers in Kwamsane, KwaZulu-Natal," SALDRU Working Papers 2, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
    17. repec:bla:rdevec:v:6:y:2002:i:3:p:442-59 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. 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.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Biniam E. Bedasso, 2015. "How Does Human Capital Shape the Social Contract?," Working Papers 46, Economic Research Southern Africa.
    2. Haroon Bhorat & Karmen Naidoo & Morné Oosthuizen & Kavisha Pillay, 2015. "Demographic, employment, and wage trends in South Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series 141, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    3. Burns, Justine & Edwards, Lawrence & Pauw, Karl, 2010. "Wage subsidies to combat unemployment and poverty," IFPRI discussion papers 969, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    4. Haroon Bhorat & Karmen Naidoo & Morné Oosthuizen & Kavisha Pillay, 2015. "Demographic, employment, and wage trends in South Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2015-141, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    5. Nicola Branson & Martin Wittenberg, 2007. "The Measurement Of Employment Status In South Africa Using Cohort Analysis, 1994‐20041," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 75(2), pages 313-326, June.

    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. Rulof Burger & Ingrid Woolard, 2005. "The State of the Labour Market in South Africa after the First Decade of Democracy," SALDRU/CSSR Working Papers 133, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
    2. Biniam E. Bedasso, 2015. "How Does Human Capital Shape the Social Contract?," Working Papers 46, Economic Research Southern Africa.
    3. Delfin Go & Marna Kearney & Vijdan Korman & Sherman Robinson & Karen Thierfelder, 2010. "Wage Subsidy and Labour Market Flexibility in South Africa," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(9), pages 1481-1502.
    4. Margherita Scarlato & Giorgio d'Agostino, 2019. "Cash Transfers, Labor Supply, and Gender Inequality: Evidence from South Africa," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(4), pages 159-184, October.
    5. Nicola Branson & Martin Wittenberg, 2007. "The Measurement Of Employment Status In South Africa Using Cohort Analysis, 1994‐20041," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 75(2), pages 313-326, June.
    6. Hunter, Mark, 2007. "The changing political economy of sex in South Africa: The significance of unemployment and inequalities to the scale of the AIDS pandemic," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(3), pages 689-700, February.
    7. Pa Black, 2004. "Poverty At The Household Level," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 72(3), pages 413-436, September.
    8. Jacqueline Mosomi, 2019. "Distributional changes in the gender wage gap in the post-apartheid South African labour market," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2019-17, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    9. Maria S. Floro & Hitomi Komatsu, 2011. "Labor Force Participation, Gender and Work in South Africa: What Can Time Use Data Reveal?," Working Papers 2011-02, American University, Department of Economics.
    10. Claire Vermaak, 2010. "The Impact of Multiple Imputation of Coarsened Data on Estimates on the Working Poor in South Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2010-086, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    11. Claire Vermaak, 2012. "Tracking poverty with coarse data: evidence from South Africa," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 10(2), pages 239-265, June.
    12. Amina Ebrahim & Kezia Lilenstein, 2019. "Gender and the South African labour market: Policy relevant research possibilities using South African tax data," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2019-31, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    13. Dorrit Posel & Michael Rogan, 2012. "Gendered trends in poverty in the post-apartheid period, 1997--2006," Development Southern Africa, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(1), pages 97-113, March.
    14. Pushkar Maitra & Ranjan Ray, 2006. "Household expenditure patterns and resource pooling: evidence of changes in post-apartheid South Africa," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 4(4), pages 325-347, December.
    15. Rulof Burger & Servaas Berg & Dieter Fintel, 2015. "The Unintended Consequences of Education Policies on South African Participation and Unemployment," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 83(1), pages 74-100, March.
    16. Dorrit Posel & Colette Muller, 2008. "Is There Evidence Of A Wage Penalty To Female Part‐Time Employment In South Africa?," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 76(3), pages 466-479, September.
    17. Mats Lundahl & Lennart Petersson, 2009. "Post-Apartheid South Africa: An Economic Success Story?," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2009-56, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    18. Özler, Berk, 2007. "Not Separate, Not Equal: Poverty and Inequality in Post-apartheid South Africa," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 55(3), pages 487-529, April.
    19. Adediran, Olanrewaju Adewole, 2024. "The effect of women's decision-making on child nutritional outcomes in South Africa," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    20. Timothy Hinks, 2012. "Fractionalization and well-being: Evidence from a new South African data set," New Zealand Economic Papers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(3), pages 253-271, December.

    More about this item

    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:ldr:wpaper:7. 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: Alison Siljeur (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/sauctza.html .

    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.