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This violence should motivate strong action by policy and decision makers to focus on the positive mobilisation of young people. Approximately 430 000 young people with matric or less enter the labour market each year. There is far less than a 50/50 chance of a black school leaver being employed by the age of 24. What is the future of work for young people? Contrary to popular belief, the economy has generated large numbers of low and semi-skilled jobs over the past decade. About 1.5 million net new jobs were created between 2002 and 2006. About 70% of total employment is found in low- and semi-skilled jobs. Most new employment is found in activities like retail, restaurants, construction, personal and business services. 
To halve unemployment by 2014, an average of 500 000 net new jobs are needed each year. If the economy had continued on its upward growth track this might have been attainable. However, the coming years are going to be constrained by a range of global and domestic factors that will impact negatively on the main job creating sectors. The government can fill some of the job creation gap. In particular, it can offer a first work experience, with a wide geographical spread. This might involve the introduction of a transitional youth job entry scheme. There is a public sector learnership and a Youth Service Programme that reaches up to 40 000 people. Such programmes need to be much more ambitious with dedicated budgets. Public works and community-based social services will become an important source of job opportunities for a large group of marginalised youth. If the economy grows by 6% or 3% per annum, between 600 000 and 2.8 million Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) type jobs will be needed by 2014 to meet Government's commitment to halve unemployment. This compares to about 300 000 EPWP jobs created in 2006. The vast majority of opportunities would be found in communitybased social service delivery such as early childhood development (ECD) or home community-based care. Does education help? The unemployment rate falls dramatically with rising educational attainment, especially with a post-matric qualification. About 30% of those aged 25-34 with matric or less were unemployed, compared to only 13% with a diploma or 8% with a university degree. However, 50% of those entering the schooling system will not get a matric. By global standards, South African youth spend a relatively long time at school but with poor learner performance. Youth are leaving school without the basic capabilities to help them navigate the labour market. These include search skills, problem solving, reading comprehension, communication, personal presentation, team work, and basic internet and computer skills. Ideally, these capabilities would be obtained through school and family. Much is being done by the Department of Education to introduce life skills and career guidance, and to strengthen Further Education and Training. This will take time. In the meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of young people enter the labour market. There are relatively low cost and immediate interventions that might help. Strengthening the link between high schools, FET colleges and the private sector would be one. This can be as simple and low cost as installing human resource managers on college boards and curricula committees and introducing large scale work experience programmes. Are youth enabled to look for work? One of the most important reasons for youth unemployment in South Africa is the lack of job search capabilities and networks that are relevant to the labour market. In 2005, a quarter of unemployed people had been searching for a job for one to three years, and 35% had been looking for three or more years. There are also those who have given up looking for a job, and are defined as ‘discouraged'. About 70% of discouraged 16 - 30 year olds say they are not looking because there is no job in their area and they do not have money for transport to look. Success in the labour market can be linked to previous experience, and getting a ‘first' job, is a challenge for young people who don't have that experience. It is also about the way they present themselves, their involvement in social, sport or community activities, and their ‘work-readiness', which can make a big difference to their ability to acquire their first job. One of the most important ways of finding a job is through networks. However, only 10% of African work-seekers aged 15 - 30 use this approach. Many African youth grow up in households without a wage earner and the question is how do young people obtain information about possible futures and labour market paths. In the Western Cape, more than 75% of young people in the brown, Indian and white population group have worked by the age of 22, as compared with 24% to 35% of black Africans. At the HSRC we are exploring a number of possible interventions with government to improve labour market matching. For example: Stronger employment services would help to remedy this situation. There is already a growing sector of public and private placement agencies that service low and semi-skilled placements. Some of these companies run training academies. However, weak education raises the cost of ensuring the quality of the worker placed, which is a particular problem since the margins are low. This sector should be recognised as an important market service that needs to be regulated (to prevent pernicious labour practices) and also supported; Subsidies for job search, covering costs like transport, could be another approach. This could be offered directly to the workseeker or through agencies; and A "youth starter pack" programme for school leavers could offer a basic set of capabilities, linkages and information. This could include the provision of basic training, a drivers licence and ID book, CV preparation, and personal presentation.
Is dysfunctional behaviour, such as crime and violence, caused by unemployment? If youth unemployment were reduced dramatically, would crime rates fall? There are about 5.8 million people unemployed under the age of 34. If that were halved, there would still be 2.9 million unemployed young people. Urban African youth have become disassociated from social organisations. In 1992, 78% said they were affiliated to some organisation, especially church or sports. By 2000, only 43% were affiliated to an organisation. This is perhaps the most dangerous set of statistics one could identify. Young people want to ‘belong' and need role models. These are not necessarily national figure-heads, but are most usefully someone close by who can offer guidance and advice. 
The kinds of capabilities needed to participate in the economy, are also those needed to be a contributing member of society. These are not necessarily obtained through institutional learning, but rather through experiential learning. There is a major role for the state, corporations and civil society organisations in supporting extracurricular activities such as music, sport, debating, environmental projects or community support programmes. Dr Miriam Altman is the executive director of the Centre for Poverty, Employment and Growth.
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