The State of Youth Well-being in South Africa

More than two decades after South Africa’s transition to democracy, more than half of all young people between the ages of 15 to 24 in the country continue to live in income poverty. While progress has been made in several areas of youth well-being, outcomes in crucial domains such as educational attainment, employment, and health remain low. The current National Youth Policy1 (NYP) recognises this reality and places these three domains (economic inclusion and participation; education, skills, and training; health and well-being)2 central in its approach. However, by mid-2018, the policy remains without an implementation plan, and the country continues to lack a coherent understanding of the range of deprivations in young people’s lives and the complex ways in which these interact. This policy brief focuses specifically on 15 to 24-year-olds as this is a crucial development stage during which young people transition from adolescence into young adulthood. It is also the international definition of youth as applied by the World Health Organisation.3 We present a set of indicators based on national, provincial and municipal data from the 2011 Census and – where available – the 2016 Community Survey data. Indicators such as these could help inform the implementation of the NYP, both within line departments and in an across-government approach. The sub-national analyses allow for the identification of areas of greatest need within provinces and municipalities. In addition, the focus on income poverty as well as multidimensional deprivation highlights the many and complex challenges facing South Africa’s youth. The data and maps used in this brief draw on the interactive Youth Explorer. This online tool is developed by the University of Cape Town’s Poverty and Inequality Initiative (PII), based at the Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, through an ongoing partnership with Statistics South Africa, OpenUp, the Economies of Regions Learning Network, the DG