Investigation of the youth informal entrepreneurship landscape in South Africa

Abstract

The South African economy is characterised by high and continuously rising youth unemployment levels and rates. While countervailing interventions have been attempted in the formal sector, support for youth employment and informal sector entrepreneurship has received limited attention from policymakers. This is a rare study that examined South African youth entrepreneurship by analysing all five available waves of the seriously under-utilised Survey of Employers and Self-Employed (SESE) data, focusing on youth entrepreneurial activities. Youth (15–34 years) and adult (at least 35 years old) informal entrepreneurs were distinguished, before deriving descriptive statistics on business activities, with a specific focus on site of operation, management, employment and net profit use in youth-owned enterprises.