I need a guidebook to life
Mosuli Okenna from Bezuidenhout Valley, east of Johannesburg, has completed her three-and-a-half-year degree in media studies in June 2025, but has spent the months since then feeling “stuck”, “enclosed” and “trapped” at home, constantly applying for jobs.
Around 10.3 million South Africans aged between 15 to 24 are facing unemployment in 2026, with jobless rates surpassing that of the older youth aged 25 to 34.
Despite a decrease in overall youth unemployment rates over the last decade, unemployment among South Africans aged 15 to 24 reached an all-time high in 2025.
Following the release of the youth unemployment statistics by Stats SA, the results show that the overall unemployment rates have decreased from 46.1% in the first quarter (Q1) of 2025 to 43.8% by the end of the fourth quarter (Q4).
The latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) reveals that youth unemployment has significantly risen to 62.4% in the last 10 years from the 50.3% in 2015.
The unemployment gap
According to Stats SA, the reasoning behind high levels of overall youth unemployment are due to: the education divide, economic exclusion, discouraged first-time job seekers, and the burden of being a female locked out of participating in the economy.
23-year-old Mosuli started applying for jobs since she began her studies in 2022, looking for art and media related jobs to gain an income. But she realised that “the sad reality is that they [employers] want experience. But it kind of contradicts itself because in order to gain experience, you need to get a job.”
“So, I just feel like its just this unfair thing put on graduates, expecting them to already garner experience throughout their degree.”
She explained that she has gained experience during her studies as she was given exposure to the industry.
Mosuli expressed that life after high school was nothing like she had imagined. “I just assumed that a degree is enough for you to get into the job market, like your employer or recruiter cannot say no to that.”
“So, I was just always almost certain that I would get a job almost right away.”
With lecturers sharing their experiences of getting jobs six months after graduating. She learnt the hard way that, “a degree doesn’t have heavy weight compared to back in the day”.
‘Unrealistic expectations‘
At 20, she envisioned herself employed with a stable job, living on her own and said that these are “unrealistic expectations” as many other young people may be realising in South Africa.
“I just had a feeling that it would be vibrant and fun, and just easy-going cause I’ve always wanted to grow up. Like as a child, that is every child’s dream to grow up… and now I kind of regret that.”
She expressed that being at home has been a setback as she has not been able to interact with other people to network and showcase her skills. “I’d rather talk to people in person and hopefully give a good impression to someone out there who’d be willing to help me.”
Despite this, she continues applying for jobs online saying that it feels detached from human connection, “everything is just robotic nothing is genuine anymore and its just people using AI tools and they don’t even want to get to know you as a person.”
She also noted that the only time she spoke to people were during interviews, as most job rejections are automated email responses which has been demotivating.
Discouraged first time job seekers
According to Stats SA discouraged job workers are people who have given up looking for work. In 2025 (Q1) around 1.9 million young people aged 15 to 34 were classified as discouraged work-seekers. This is 400 000 more unemployed youngsters compared to the 1.5 million adults aged 35 to 64.
These figures show how young people are especially vulnerable to discouragement, and is emphasised by limited experience and few employment opportunities available in the job market.
In the first quarter of 2025, 58.7% amongst the 4.8 million unemployed youth reported having no previous work experience. This means that almost six out of 10 unemployed youngsters are still awaiting their first job.
The problem is that without experience in a field, young people struggle to get hired. But without a job, how does one gain experience?
Most entry level jobs require experience from a year upwards which continues the cycle for many who are unemployed in South Africa. This cycle of exclusion is what keeps many without a posting and hinders skills development at a crucial stage of their life.
Many are unable to provide for themselves and are left depending on their parents who also experience the economic pressures of having a child at home in survival mode every day.
Mosuli recalls seeing the look on her mom’s face. “I can see she desperately wants for me to get a job and she always does check in, asking me how are the applications going and I’ll always give an update.”
“It’s always the same story, ‘Oh we regret to inform you.’ And I do tell her that I keep trying so that it can reassure her that okay… I haven’t given up all that hope.”
Despite actively applying for jobs with the help of her sister, Mosuli’s mother has also resorted to asking around for job opportunities for her daughter.
Stats SA reported that, many young workers are clustered in low-skilled or service-based jobs. Mosuli has resorted to applying for waitressing and admin roles even though she has a degree for a qualified role in another field.
Education divide
The university graduate unemployment rate dropped to 23.9% in the last quarter, with numbers still being relatively high despite Stats SA suggesting that this is the most “protective and advantageous” route.
The reality is that not everyone has access to tertiary education, leaving a gap between those who can afford it versus those who cannot.
The types of education, being private or public, also creates a divide between employment amongst youth. Along with the required national qualification levels (NQF) that employers consider before employment.
Those who are unemployed without a matric certificate face great challenges with a rate of 51.6%, however those who are unemployed with matric, remains at 47.6%.
Shandra from Roodepoort completed her matric in 2025 through home-schooling programmes, where most classes were self-taught and additional assistance was received from the tutor.
“It’s not as easy as people think it is …there are more challenges with home-schooling than with a normal school,” she says.
Since matriculating, she has been “job hunting” while referring to her time at home as “a gap year”. She shared with The Citizen that the transition from school into the working environment has been overwhelming.
“I was just overthinking it too much to be honest with you, and I still am.
“Because I have so much I want to do, and that I am still thinking of doing, that I essentially don’t know where to start or what to start with.”
She is trying to figure out what she is interested in doing. “I don’t just want to do something just to do it, but I actually want to enjoy what I do.”
Shandra continues to apply for jobs and remains hopeful that she will get one this year and then pursue her studies next year while working. But that can only happen if the job market allows her to participate. She, however, has to look for a job that she would not typically have thought of doing, simply just to earn some form of financial freedom.
“It definitely hasn’t been what I had expected it to be. Well, if it was up to me, it would be totally different. I would for sure have a job by now, which I still don’t have.”
The 18-year-old shares dreams of travelling and investing in herself, as many other young people in South Africa.
‘Survival has replaced progression‘
Four out of five unemployed youth have been without work for over a year while informal work continues to outpace formal job gains. This is based on the latest press release by Youth Capital, on 19 February 2026.
The project lead from Youth Capital, Buhlebethu Magwaza, said that for this generation, “survival has replaced progression”. She implies that young people are “getting by, but not moving forward”, which is alarming.
Youth Capital is a national youth-led advocacy campaign that pushes for structural reform, accountability and measurable commitments to address youth unemployment in South Africa.
Murphy Nganga from Youth Capital said that survival mode is the reality for many young people across the country who are circling between long-term unemployment and insecure informal work. This excludes job seekers who are discouraged to apply.
Despite repeated policy commitments to inclusive growth and job creation, young people are still excluded from stable work more than they were 10 years ago.
Youth Capital noted that the outcomes released by Stats SA are results of weak growth, reflecting policy choices and governance gaps. Following the 2026 State of Nation Address (Sona), Youth Capital says that youth unemployment continues to be acknowledged rhetorically but is not being governed as a national crisis.
“Youth unemployment is treated as an outcome to be hoped for and not a crisis to be managed.”
“There are no clear national targets, no coordinating task force and no transparent line of accountability,” said Magwaza.
READ MORE: Unemployment drops: Western Cape leads job growth while Gauteng sheds jobs
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