Foundations For Youth Unemployment In South Africa

By Elaine Guthrie


Unemployment is a common problem all around the world. The factors leading to unemployment especially among the youth are common factors. This article discusses the cause of youth unemployment in South Africa and how they can be solved.

Most factories and industries are set up in urban places and most job openings are found in the city. A large population of the people live outside from the city thus accessing their job areas is hard. They shy away from work, as they will spend more than a quarter of the salary commuting between their homes and the place of work.

Geographical location is another cause. Many people live far away from cities where there are high job openings. The reason for that is that renting a house in the city is very expensive. This means if someone got a job in the city, it will be hard to get to the job, as there is not cheap public means of transportation.

Poverty has led to hopelessness among the youth. This is because the meager pay they earn plus they parents cannot sustain them in school. Therefore, they only settle for mining and other low paying jobs. They become discouraged and start weird behaviors. Such a person cannot be employed even if a job opportunity presented itself. The course in the university and colleges are also beyond reach of the ordinary citizen.

The country has a vibrant mining sector and several under developed sectors. The reason for underdevelopment is due to lack of skilled workers to work in an industry. For example, the agricultural industry is a major employer. If people had the right mindset and training, they would work in this sector. However, since there are only a few, the many offer less quality of work than expected.

Social and cultural factors are also to blame for the high number of youth unemployment. It is a fact that unemployment is huge only among the youth, the reason for this is because there is pessimism over securing a job. Also along history of broken families, drug abuse and crime has locked out the youth. Youths who engage in the above vices cannot hold a job even if they got one.

Unrealistic expectations among the youth have discouraged much form getting a job. This has in turn led to many youths quitting or not applying for jobs. For example, most college graduates believe that they should earn a high salary as they start working for a company. The truth of the matter is that companies offer a low starting wage. This has frustrated the youths, as they do not want to accept the low salary first

Joblessness causes people to turn into crime, prostitution and other negative activities. These vices affect the future generations. It will be more costly to repair the situation now instead of waiting for the issues to escalate.




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