The South African youth employment programmes: exploring the experiences of young black African parents in Johannesburg.

Abstract

The high rate of youth unemployment in Johannesburg and the increased demand for highly skilled job seekers have created a need for effective youth employment programmes which aim to bridge this gap. To determine the impact of youth employment programmes on young parents’ participation, we examined their experience as beneficiaries of such programmes and the identities they derived from the programme using a multi-case study approach. A semi-structured text-based interview was conducted with 12 participants aged between 18 and 35 years old who resided or participated in youth employment programmes in Johannesburg. The participants came from varying experiences regarding parenthood and internship participation. The results indicated that young parents who participated in youth employment programmes faced new financial and emotional challenges. Additionally, all the participants strongly requested that the youth employment programmes be enhanced with additional resources to support youth in gaining permanent employment and extend the programme to two years. A prominent identity uncovered was resilience fatigue identity and the impact of COVID-19 and youth employment programmes on exacerbating and providing financial and emotional relief for young parents. The results also indicated that youth employment programmes might positively impact young parents and position them as active contributors to their community. The findings suggest that the current format and duration of the youth employment programmes may need to be reviewed, with particular attention paid to integrating developmental elements.