As Youth Month draws to a close, the economic challenges facing South Africa’s young people persist, with youth unemployment remaining alarmingly high at 46.1%. According to Statistics South Africa, the youth unemployment rate has climbed by 9.2% since 2015, when it stood at 36.9%—a troubling indicator that over the past decade, the chances of young South Africans finding employment have only worsened.
Independent economist Ulrich Joubert attributes this to a critical lack of experience among young job seekers. While unemployment has risen across all demographics, he says the youth face a uniquely difficult set of circumstances.
“The youth are at a disadvantage in terms of experience when it comes to employing people, and so often business organizations, they look at what your experience has been up till now, and because of that, we sit with a situation where youth unemployment hasn’t improved,” stated Joubert.
This experience gap leaves many young people in a precarious position—possessing the education required for certain jobs, but lacking the practical experience to be considered viable candidates. As a result, some have resorted to relying on the R350 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant to survive.
In response, several advocates have called for the implementation of a Basic Income Grant (BIG)—a universal monthly stipend designed to support all South Africans with daily expenses and help them pursue further education or employment opportunities.
For Siyanda Badunza, a Basic Income Researcher at the Institute for Economic Justice, such a grant could transform the economic prospects of the country’s youth by addressing both hunger and barriers to employment.
“Someone who doesn’t have access to employment can’t, without the help of others, at least afford themselves the basic diet and meet the most basic of nutritional needs. So, a basic income would at least stave off the worst effects of hunger, but, more than that, it can also assist when it comes to employment, as it can subsidize the cost of searching for work,” said Badunza.
However, this proposal is not without its critics. Joubert argues that a Basic Income Grant would suffer from the same sustainability issues as the SRD grant and would place further strain on the country’s limited tax base.
“The grants that are there today, in the longer term, are not sustainable. So, if we start with an income grant and we dish that out to the total population, that is even less sustainable in the longer term because we unfortunately have a very small tax base in South Africa that must support these grants,” explained Joubert.
Instead, he suggests that young people be steered toward fields with greater employment demand, rather than focusing on disciplines like social studies where job opportunities are scarce.
While solutions to the youth unemployment crisis remain divisive, all sides agree on one point: urgent intervention is needed. The failure to address youth unemployment today is a failure of South Africa’s future.
