South Africa's human capital in the 1990s

Abstract

The unsatisfactory human capital situation in South Africa in the 1990s is reflected by several indicators, notably the high unemployment rates of the African majority and their poor education relative to that the white minority. Much of the data used comes from the 1996 census, the first enumeration to be held after the dismantling of apartheid. African males and females, and especially those aged 15-24, have unemployment rates that are considerably higher than the rates for the other population groups. Further analysis of the most disadvantaged group, African females aged 15-24, shows that they are more likely than white women to be in school after age 18, but are less likely to have passes matric. After age 20, the white women are either improving their human capital by gaining experience in employment or by studying for post-matric qualifications; whereas at all stages, the Africans in the labor force are more likely looking for a job than employed. At age 24, about one-quarter of African women with post-school qualifications are looking for work, but they are doing considerably better that those who only have matric.