South Africa’s youth unemployment rate, at 45.5% (among those aged between 15 and 34), is worryingly high, even in the context of widespread unemployment across the African continent. More than 72 million young people in Africa, most of them women, are neither employed nor pursuing tertiary education.
And, while South African statistics have shown that holding a tertiary degree or diploma increases young people’s chances of finding employment compared with their less educated peers, there are fewer job opportunities available than there are graduates. This was illustrated in a recent study I conducted with my colleagues that traced the experience of graduates in the labour market.
