What are we talking about? NEET is short for “Not in Employment, Education, or Training” – and 55.4% of 23-year olds are NEETs.
The Institute for Race Relations (IRR) says NEET is s massive problem in SA because it causes a wast of talent and economic potential. The think tank also says keeping track of NEET figures are most critical because they reveal the proportion
of young people in need of getting out of NEET.
For those who are 18 years old, NEET figures are only 15.9% but not even this is good news. It’s mostly because many 18-year olds are still in school.
The youth unemployment rate, measured on the expanded definition, is 46.7%. The economically active youth population is increasing at half the rate of the overall economically active population. The IRR says between 2001 and 2015, total employment increased by 25.3%, but that of young
people increased by just 13.4%. Roughly 6 in 10 young people who are unemployed have been so for more than a year.
There are just under a million households headed by people aged 15 to 24. Young people are mobile and leaving South Africa’s more rural provinces for Gauteng and the Western Cape in great numbers. Gauteng, for example, has over two million young residents who were born in other provinces.
In schools, only half of children who enrol in Grade 1 can expect to reach Grade 12 and just 12% of maths candidates obtain 60% and above. Poverty does matter — children in poorer areas show significantly worse maths results than those in more affluent parts.
The IRR says South Africa’s young people and the overall unemployment rate is case for major concern but despite all warnings, there seems so little official (read government) urgency in dealing with it.
