Youth and well-being: a South African case study

SOURCE: Social Indicators Research
OUTPUT TYPE: Journal Article
PUBLICATION YEAR: 2009
TITLE AUTHOR(S): M.Makiwane, S.Kwizera
KEYWORDS: FERTILITY, LABOUR MARKET, POVERTY, QUALITY OF LIFE, YOUTH
Print: HSRC Library: shelf number 5362
HANDLE: 20.500.11910/5324
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11910/5324

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Abstract

This paper was a result of an analysis from various data sources with a purpose to develop a better understanding of the level of socio-economic well being of young people in South Africa. Such understanding is aimed at enabling government to plan and implement well-structured and integrated development programmes that are relevant to the socio-economic needs of the youth and that will enable them to fully participate in all aspects of society. Two main sources of data were used for this analysis. The first is the Status of the Youth (SYR) data set. The second data set used in this study is the South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS) which is a national representative sample of 5,000 households. The study shows that the quality of life among majority of young people remains low, reflecting the historical racial cleavages of South African society. This is mainly due to the emergence of the AIDS pandemic in South Africa, and the fact that many young people remain outside the labour market.