South Africa’s youth grew more discouraged from seeking work as the unemployment rate among young people has remained stubbornly high, BDLive reported. Data released on Monday by Stats SA for the past seven years show discouraged young work seekers grew from 809,000 in 2008 to 1.5 million by the first quarter of this year. This was in spite of the government’s efforts to deal with youth unemployment through the Expanded Public Works Program, The Jobs Fund and the employment tax incentive. Of the approximately 19.7 million working-age youth (15 to 34 years), 6.2 million were employed while 3.6 million were without jobs, the report said. Some 9.8 million were not economically active, meaning they were either full-time students or homemakers, or they had become discouraged from looking for employment. “The frustration of not finding employment has led many young people to become discouraged and exit the labor force altogether,” Stats SA said.
