Unemployed youth: ‘time bombs’ or engines for growth?
(2014) In African Security Review 23(2). p.196-205- Abstract
- While popular narratives about success in South Africa focus on individual effort, accidents of birth continue to determine life prospects. Inequalities in early childhood development, health, and education narrow the range of possibilities that young people have available to them, and this impacts on their risk appetite, including, through the workings of the maturing brain, a propensity to violence, substance abuse, and unsafe sex. New technology offers young people an unprecedented ability to organise and network. This fact, combined with high levels of youth dissatisfaction, unemployment, and marginalisation, leads many to worry that the young are “ticking time bombs”. While there certainly are risks, great unused pools of youth labour... (More)
- While popular narratives about success in South Africa focus on individual effort, accidents of birth continue to determine life prospects. Inequalities in early childhood development, health, and education narrow the range of possibilities that young people have available to them, and this impacts on their risk appetite, including, through the workings of the maturing brain, a propensity to violence, substance abuse, and unsafe sex. New technology offers young people an unprecedented ability to organise and network. This fact, combined with high levels of youth dissatisfaction, unemployment, and marginalisation, leads many to worry that the young are “ticking time bombs”. While there certainly are risks, great unused pools of youth labour also present an opportunity for engaging them in social advancement programmes. Structured youth service is a tried and tested policy option that, when implemented as part of an integrated youth development strategy, can enlist thousands of young people in devoting their considerable energies to leadership for the public good. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/5f60d6f8-60bc-4a84-a457-0577eb13ec2d
- author
- Burnett, Scott LU
- publishing date
- 2014-05-12
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- unemployment, South Africa, youth development
- in
- African Security Review
- volume
- 23
- issue
- 2
- pages
- 10 pages
- publisher
- Taylor & Francis
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:84900426398
- ISSN
- 1024-6029
- DOI
- 10.1080/10246029.2014.913833
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- additional info
- Written as programmes director of loveLife
- id
- 5f60d6f8-60bc-4a84-a457-0577eb13ec2d
- alternative location
- http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10246029.2014.913833
- date added to LUP
- 2019-02-19 11:40:11
- date last changed
- 2022-02-15 08:50:40
@article{5f60d6f8-60bc-4a84-a457-0577eb13ec2d,
abstract = {{While popular narratives about success in South Africa focus on individual effort, accidents of birth continue to determine life prospects. Inequalities in early childhood development, health, and education narrow the range of possibilities that young people have available to them, and this impacts on their risk appetite, including, through the workings of the maturing brain, a propensity to violence, substance abuse, and unsafe sex. New technology offers young people an unprecedented ability to organise and network. This fact, combined with high levels of youth dissatisfaction, unemployment, and marginalisation, leads many to worry that the young are “ticking time bombs”. While there certainly are risks, great unused pools of youth labour also present an opportunity for engaging them in social advancement programmes. Structured youth service is a tried and tested policy option that, when implemented as part of an integrated youth development strategy, can enlist thousands of young people in devoting their considerable energies to leadership for the public good.}},
author = {{Burnett, Scott}},
issn = {{1024-6029}},
keywords = {{unemployment; South Africa; youth development}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{05}},
number = {{2}},
pages = {{196--205}},
publisher = {{Taylor & Francis}},
series = {{African Security Review}},
title = {{Unemployed youth: ‘time bombs’ or engines for growth?}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10246029.2014.913833}},
doi = {{10.1080/10246029.2014.913833}},
volume = {{23}},
year = {{2014}},
}