The YPI report identifies the factors which perpetuate South Africa’s extremely high youth unemployment rate; this is further compounded by the fact that 62.2% of South Africa’s youth are living in extreme poverty and are highly discouraged work-seekers.
The YPI expands on research that finds that it will take approximately 22.7 years to close the income gap in our country – indicating that there is an extreme disparity of income distribution in South Africa. Unless targeted interventions are put in place to address the structural inequalities in our economy, inequality and chronic poverty will continue to plague the youth of South Africa.
Some of the key findings of YPI Report indicate that certain provinces require more work than others with regards to advancing youth outcomes, with only Gauteng and the Western Cape obtaining relatively high YPI rankings in terms of YPI trends.
This is partly due to both provinces scoring above 70 index points under the Foundations of Wellbeing dimension. This means that youth in the Western Cape and Gauteng have relatively strong component scores on: Access to Basic Knowledge, Access to Information and Communications and Health and Wellness. Their scoring is also indicative of the satisfactory environmental quality of both provinces, particularly the Western Cape, with regards to youth satisfaction with refuse removal and fewer perceived environmental problems linked to water or air pollution, land degradation and litter.
An unfortunate fact revealed by the YPI report is a regression in YPI outcomes over a six-year-long time series, spanning from 2013 to 2018, in all provinces except for Limpopo, the North West and Gauteng. A massive contribution to this declining trend is the opportunity dimension of the YPI, which is made up of components relating to personal rights, personal freedom and choice, inclusiveness and access to advanced education. This speaks directly to the lack of economic opportunities for many of our youth.
The YPI report also makes noteworthy findings about how we ensure greater youth inclusivity in our economy and across society as a whole. It provides guidance on how business, government and civil society can empower our youth with opportunities for broad-based participation in our economy.
A critical starting point is to ensure that our youth have access to the correct tools and devices to bridge the digital and technological gap caused by poverty. This will require long term, accountable and transparent partnerships across the public and private sectors to empower our youth with globally competitive skills and aptitudes.
Thriving small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) are vital for the skills development and employment prospects of our young people. If we are to effectively progress towards solving the income gap challenges in South Africa, we will have to do better in helping our young adults learn and grow. Upward mobility is critical in ensuring the long-term viability of human capital, and it is directly linked to the ability of SMMEs to provide employment opportunities and working experience to the youth of our country.
Increasing the availability of and access to jobs across our economy, will begin to help us take the necessary steps towards ensuring better youth outcomes over the next 10 years.
The findings of this annual survey indicate that progress can be measured, and that we can hold ourselves, as a society, responsible for a more prosperous youth outcome, year on year. At IQbusiness we have long maintained that “what gets measured, gets managed”. It is up to us, to make measurable changes today, to ensure our youth have a better tomorrow.
View the full report here.
