The personal and social costs of the employment crisis are not gender neutral. Women experience disproportionately worse outcomes than men at every stage. While we celebrate Women’s Month, Harambee continues to shine a spotlight on the gendered dimension of youth employment in South Africa and the specific actions we can take to address this.
Launched at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting by The Prince’s Trust group of charities, the research shows a stark ‘Upskill Struggle’ for many young people who are at the very beginning of their careers.
This Youth Month marked 46 years since the Soweto student uprising of June 16, 1976, where students protested against the forced imposition by the Apartheid government of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction at local schools. As we think about that generation of brave young activists, we also have to contend with the new struggle faced by the current generation of young people – the battle against unemployment! A struggle exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic of the last two years.
Launched at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting by The Prince’s Trust group of charities, the research shows a stark ‘Upskill Struggle’ for many young people who are at the very beginning of their careers.
Resilience alone in the face of crisis is not what will get us through. It needs to be coupled with intentional investment and support to address the reality of our country’s youth unemployment crisis.