SABPP HR Voice FINAL 310513.pdf

hrriTHE YOUTH IN NUMBERS: CENSUS 2011The National Youth DevelopmentAgency (NYDA) welcomes the 2011Census results.The Census 2011 results confirm thatSouth Africa is a youthful country withyouth aged 15-34 year constitutingabout 38% (about 20 Million) of thetotal population, which is estimated atabout 51.8 Million.It is estimated that if age 14 and age35 are included in the estimations, thefigure of youths as a proportion of thetotal population will go up to about 42%(about 21.7 million). In fact, the averageage of Census 2011 is 25 years.About 26% of youth reside in Gauteng,followed by KwaZulu-Natal withabout 20% of the youth. The restof the figures are as follows, 11.4%(Eastern Cape), 11% (Western Cape),10% (Limpopo), 8% (Mpumalanga),6% (North West), and 2% (NorthernCape).In terms of race, African youth constitute about 82% of the youth population,followed by Coloured youths at about 8%. White youth constitute about 6% ofthe youth population while Indians constitute about 2%. Gender distribution ofyoung people is at about 50% for males and females.PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF YOUTH (15-34) BY RACE, 2011The big proportion of youth populationcalls for intensification of efforts todevelop young people. An investmentin young people will have positiveeconomic spin-offs in future.Census 2011 has also confirmed thehigh level of unemployment amongyoung people. Young people betweenthe 14 and 19 are the most affectedwith 64.9% being unemployed. Thisis followed closely by those agedbetween 20 and 24 years with anunemployment rate of about 49%. If anexpanded definition of unemploymentis used, the unemployment figuresincreased to 78% for those agedbetween 15 and 19 and to about 60%for those aged 20 to 24 years.These figures compare unfavourablywith the national unemploymentfigures, which stand at about 30%(narrow definition) and about 40%(expanded). This by any standard is anindication of a crisis which needs to bedealt with urgently.4