Analysis of socio-demographic factors influencing youth employment status in South Africa: the case of three local municipalities in Mpumalanga Province.

Abstract

Since 1994, South Africa's labour market has been transforming through different political and economic strategies that try to eliminate labour inequalities of the past and to improve working conditions for all citizens. However, the South Africa labour market is still dominated by low and semi-skilled individuals who find it difficult to secure formal employment or who are unemployed. Furthermore, South African youth, especially those with lower levels of education and in locations less accessible to infrastructure and services, face diminished chances of social mobility and employment. The purpose of this article is to assess the effect of various socio-demographic factors on youth employment status in three local municipalities of Mpumalanga Province. The data used in this article is from the survey questionnaire conducted by the Provincial Department of Social Development in the "war on poverty programme". To achieve the objectives of this article, descriptive statistics and a binary logistic regression are used to analyse the data. The results show that factors such as skills, age and education level have a significant influence on youth employment status. There is statistical evidence supporting the effect of municipality of residence and gender on one's employment status. This article concludes that socio-demographic factors do influence youth employment status, depending on which local municipality one resides in, and it provides a list of suggestions and policy implications with direction for future research about labour market and youth employment, particularly in South Africa.