Young South Africans not hopeful of junk status recovery
Young people in South Africa do not think that “South Africa will be able to recover from being downgraded to junk status”.
Only 45% of 15-17 year olds and a third (34%) of 18-24 years olds believe that South Africa will recover.
These are some of the findings of a recent Pulse of the People study undertaken by Ipsos, interviewing 3,598 adults, of which 866 (24%) were younger than 25 years old.
The study was conducted from 21 April to 22 May 2017.
In addition, more than half of young people also agree with the statement “Job creation will slow down because of the downgrade of South Africa’s credit status to ‘junk’”.
Almost six in every 10 (58%) of 15-17 year olds and 55% of 18-24 years olds agree with the statement.
More than six in every 10 young people (62%) say that the government is not doing well in trying to keep skilled people here and stopping the so-called “brain drain”.
Only about one fifth (19%) of South Africans aged 15 years and older believe that the country is currently going in the right direction.
Despite an often-expressed belief that “young people are the future,” the views of young South Africans are not out of kilter with the rest of the country and they are also despondent about the direction the country is heading in. Almost two-thirds of young South Africans feel that the country is going in the wrong direction.
When asked about problems in the country that should be addressed, the related issues of job creation and education are always mentioned. Young people in South Africa bear a disproportionate burden in terms of unemployment, in fact, almost half (44%) of those currently looking for work are below the age of 25.
Young people also do not have faith in the government when it comes to “reducing unemployment by creating jobs” and three-quarters (75%) of 15-17 year olds and 73% of 18-24 years olds say that the government is handling this issue either “not very well” or “not at all well”.
They also feel strongly that the government is not doing well in “addressing the educational needs of all South Africans” – six in every ten (61%) of 15-17 year olds and 55% of 18-24 year olds expressed this opinion.
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