Cape Argus reports that a national survey among young people has found that the majority of youth are worried about the unemployment crisis.
According to the survey, conducted by Citizen Surveys SA, 73% of youth between the ages of 18 and 24 are concerned about unemployment, while 31% are worried about poverty, and 30% about crime. Statistics SA’s most recent quarterly labour force survey placed the youth unemployment rate at 58.1% in the last quarter of 2019, up by 3.4% from the previous year. Brett Herron of the Good party commented: “Imagine being a young person today - a young coloured or black person in particular - where your future is probably bleak as your education prepares you for nothing and the economy offers no prospects. This must be our collective outrage and our collective burden to fix. Covid-19 broke our fragile economy. Let’s rebuild one that leaves no one excluded. Economic growth on its own will not solve unemployment and exclusion.” The president of the Cape Chamber of Commerce, Geoffrey Jacobs, said: “Covid-19 has had a devastating impact on all South Africans but none more so than our youth. Prior to the pandemic youth unemployment was estimated to be over 52%. With Covid-19 and the hard lockdown on the economy, this situation has been exacerbated.” A report released by the International Labour Organisation has shown that globally 15- to 25-year-olds have been hardest hit by national lockdowns.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Marvin Charles at Cape Argus
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