The Transition from School to Work Amongst Black Youth in Cape Town

David Lam, University of Michigan
Murray Leibbrandt, University of Cape Town
Cecil Mlatsheni, University of Cape Town
Vimal Ranchhod, University of Cape Town

The paper investigates the nature of the school to work transition amongst youth in Cape Town using the Cape Area Panel Survey. One focus of the paper is on the typical search behaviour in the months immediately following school leaving. Through the use of a monthly calendar we are able to determine precisely whether individuals searched or not from month to month as well as the month in which a job was obtained for those that found employment. We initially paint a descriptive picture, teasing out nuanced differences in the post schooling labour market behaviour of African and Coloured youth (two race groups with similar socio-economic profiles but different labour market outcomes owing to Cape Town specific labour dynamics that were shaped by the region’s history). The other focus of the paper is survival analysis modelling in order to gain insight on duration of unemployment.