Statistics South Africa Private Bag X44 Pretoria 0001 South Africa 170 Andries Street Pretoria 0002 User information service: (012) 310-8600 Fax: (012) 310-8500 Publications: (012) 310-8251 Fax: (012) 310-8619 Main switchboard: (012) 310-8911 Fax: (012) 322-3374 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.statssa.gov.za Pali Lehohla Statistician-General Statistics South Africa 2002 Published by Statistics South Africa, Private Bag X44, Pretoria 0001 © Statistics South Africa, 2002 Users may apply or process this data, provided Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) is acknowledged as the original source of the data; that it is specified that the application an/or analysis is the result of the user's independent processing of the data; and that neither the basic data nor any reprocessed version or application thereof may be sold or offered for sale in any form whatsoever without prior permission from Stats SA. Author: Joyce Lestrade-Jefferis Stats SA Library Cataloguing-in-Publication (CIP) Data The South African labour market: Selected time-based social and international comparisons/ Statistics South Africa. Pretoria: Statistics South Africa, 2002 221 p. 1. Labour market – South Africa 2. Labour supply – Statistics I. Statistics South Africa II. Joyce Lestrade-Jefferis (LCSH 16) A complete set of Stats SA publications is available at Stats SA Library and the following libraries: National Library of South Africa, Pretoria Division National Library of South Africa, Cape Town Division Library of Parliament, Cape Town Bloemfontein Public Library Natal Society Library, Pietermaritzburg Johannesburg Public Library Eastern Cape Library Services, King William's Town Central Regional Library, Polokwane Central Reference Library, Nelspruit Central Reference Collection, Kimberley Central Reference Library, Mmabatho Obtainable from: Publications, Statistics South Africa Tel: (012) 310 8251 Fax: (012) 322 3374 (012) 310 8619 E-mail: [email protected] Executive summary 1 Chapter 1: Introduction Background 7 Objectives of the report 7 Data sources 7 Data quality issues 7 Technical notes 8 Layout of the remainder of the report 9 Definitions 11 Chapter 2: Demographic characteristics Introduction 13 Demographic features of various regions in the world 13 The age distribution of the labour market in South Africa 15 Age and sex differences in the labour market 18 Summary 20 Chapter 3: Education and the labour market Introduction 21 Education profile of main labour market categories 21 Education profile of people in the labour force 24 Education and unemployment 24 Summary 30 Chapter 4: Summary labour market measures Introduction 31 Unemployment rates 32 Labour force activity/participation rates 42 International comparisons of labour force activity rates 44 Labour absorption 47 Summary 51 Chapter 5: People who are without employment Introduction 53 Definition of people who are without employment 53 Reasons for not being employed 55 Inactivity rates 60 Duration of unemployment 65 Previous work 70 Summary 72 Chapter 6: Industry and occupation of employed people Introduction 73 Overall trends in employment 73 Industrial sector of employed people 74 Distribution of employment by occupation 80 Occupation and industry 86 Summary 87 Chapter 7: Part-time and casual versus full-time work Introduction 89 Full-time, part-time and hours actually worked 91 Age profile of full-time and part-time workers 93 Full-time and part-time work by population group and province 94 Full-time and part-time employment by industry and occupation 96 International comparisons 98 Summary 103 Chapter 8: Informal sector Introduction 105 Definition of the informal sector 105 Socio-economic characteristics 106 International comparisons 114 Summary 117 Chapter 9: Youth in the labour market Introduction 119 Unemployment rates among youth 120 International comparisons 124 Labour force activity/participation rates 132 Industry and occupation of employed youth 133 Reasons for no employment among youth 135 Previous work experience among youth 136 Summary 138 Chapter 10: Disability and labour market status Introduction 139 The disabled working-age population 139 Official unemployment rates among the disabled 140 Employment by industry and occupation 141 Full-time and part-time work among the disabled 143 Summary 144 Chapter 11: Poverty and labour market status Introduction 145 Hourly wages of employees 145 Monthly income bands 152 Means of financial support among those without employment 155 International comparisons 156 Summary 158 Chapter 12: Conclusion Introduction 159 Demographic features 162 Education 164 Economic growth and the labour market 168 Labour absorption 174 Labour force participation/activity rate 176 Long-term unemployment 178 Reason for being out of the labour force 180 Sectoral shifts in employment 180 Self-employment and the informal sector 182 Unpaid family workers 185 Occupations 185 Part-time employment 186 Youth in the labour market 192 Poverty and labour market status 195 Education and poverty 196 Summary 198 Selected references 199 Appendix 1: Statistical tables 201 Table 2.1: The total population, working-age population and labour force in various regions of the world 13 Table 3.1: Distribution of working-age people in main labour market categories by highest level of education, 1995 compared with 1999 22 Table 3.2: Level of educational attainment of people in the labour force by population group, 1995 compared with 1999 24 Table 3.3: Official unemployment rate by population group and highest level of education, 1995 compared with 1999 27 Table 4.1: Major labour market categories and rates, 1995 compared with 1999 32 Table 4.2: Unemployment rate by province (official and expanded definitions), 1995 compared with 1999 35 Table 4.3: Comparison of unemployment rates in selected countries (restricted and expanded definitions), 1990 36 Table 5.1: Distribution of people without employment, 1995 compared with 1999 54 Table 5.2: Main reason for not being employed, 1999 55 Table 5.3: People with no employment and no work experience, 1999 70 Table 6.1: Total employment by sex, 1995 compared with 1999 73 Table 6.2: Employment by industry and sex, 1995 compared with 1999 74 Table 6.3: Distribution of occupations among employed people, 1995 compared with 1999 80 Table 7.1: Full-time and part-time employment, 1995 compared with 1999 91 Table 8.1: Operational criteria commonly used in defining the informal sector 105 Table 8.2: Employment in the informal sector, 1995 compared with 1999 106 Table 8.3: Employment in the informal and formal sectors of the economy, 1999 107 Table 8.4: Percentage of people employed in the informal sector in selected countries 114 Table 9.1: Official unemployment rate by age and level of education, 1995 compared with 1999 120 Table 9.2: Unemployment rate among urban and rural youth in selected developing countries, 1991/92 131 Table 9.3: Percentage of those with no employment that had never worked, 1999 137 Table 10.1: Distribution of disabled people by labour market category, 1995 compared with 1999 139 Table 11.1: Means of financial support, 1999 155 Table 12.1: Annual growth rate of GDP per capita, 1990-1999 169 Table 12.2: Trend in self-employment in South Africa, 1995 compared with 1999 184 Table 12.3: Income poverty by region – proportion of the population living on less than one US dollar per day 196 Box 7.1: A profile of casual and part-time workers in 1999 90 Chapter 2: Demographic characteristics Figure 2.1: Percentage of the population that are young and old in selected regions of the world, 1999 14 Figure 2.2: Age distribution of the working-age population, 1999 15 Figure 2.3: Age distribution of the working-age population by population group, 1999 16 Figure 2.4: Age distribution of the working-age population by province, 1999 17 Figure 2.5: Percentage of the working-age population in main labour market categories, 1999 18 Figure 2.6: Age/sex differences in the labour market, 1999 19 Figure 2.7: Sex ratios in the labour market, 1995 compared with 1999 20 Chapter 3: Education and the labour market Figure 3.1: Distribution of working-age people in main labour market categories by highest level of education, 1995 compared with 1999 23 Figure 3.2: Distribution of unemployed people by highest level of education attained, in selected countries 25 Figure 3.3: Official unemployment rate by highest education level and sex, 1995 compared with 1999 26 Figure 3.4: Official unemployment rate by age and education, 1995 compared with 1999 28 Figure 3.5: Unemployment rate by education in selected countries 29 Chapter 4: Summary labour market measures Figure 4.1: Unemployment rate (official definition) by population group and sex, 1995 compared with 1999 33 Figure 4.2: Unemployment rate (expanded definition) by population group and sex, 1995 compared with 1999 34 Figure 4.3: Official and expanded unemployment rate by province, 1999 35 Figure 4.4: Trend in unemployment rate in selected countries, 1995 compared with 1999 38 Figure 4.5: Unemployment rate by sex in selected countries 40 Figure 4.6: Urban and rural unemployment rate in selected countries, 1989/90 41 Figure 4.7: Labour force participation rate (official definition) by population group and sex, 1995 compared with 1999 42 Figure 4.8: Labour force participation rate (official definition) by province, 1995 compared with 1999 43 Figure 4.9: Labour force participation rate in selected countries 45 Figure 4.10: Labour force participation rate by age in selected countries 1998/99 46 Figure