by Lauren Graham & Ariane De Lannoy
When President Cyril Ramaphosa announced in his state of the nation address that youth unemployment was “our most grave and most pressing challenge” and that it was for the government “a matter of great urgency that we draw young people in far greater numbers into productive economic activity”, he placed a simmering crisis at the centre of the national agenda.
This is good news for the millions of young people who face unemployment and underemployment, and for researchers, policy makers and nongovernment organisations who have long grappled with the issue.
Over the past two years, researchers at the University of Johannesburg’s Centre for Social Development in Africa and the University of Cape Town’s Southern African Labour and Development Research Unit have been collaborating on a research project that asks this exact question.
Read more on the Business Day website.