An assessment of migrant/non-migrant differentials in socio-demographic predictors of employment status, South Africa
Date
2021
Authors
Botiyana, Aphiwe
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Abstract
Background: Despite being one of the richest countries in Africa, South Africa has one of the
highest unemployment rates in the world. Factors such as corruption, poor education system, and
structural changes in the economy are attributable to high unemployment. As a result of high
unemployment, the country has experienced xenophobic attacks. These attacks are based on the
assertion that migrants take jobs from South Africans. Furthermore, not much has been done to
understand the ways in which migrants and non-migrants differ in relation to employment status.
Therefore, this study compared socio-demographic factors associated with employment status
between migrants and non-migrants in South Africa.
Methods and Data: The study used the Statistics South Africa Census 2011 10% dataset. The
study population included all economically-active individuals (15-64 years) in South Africa. The
final sample size for the current study was 1 406 730 individuals of working age. The sample
was disaggregated into 84319 migrants and 1 322 411 non-migrants. The predictor variables
included sex, age, ethnicity, level of education, type of place of residence, and marital status. The
outcome variable is employment status, which had three categories; formal employment,
informal employment, and unemployment. Data analysis was performed using the statistical
software Stata. Statistical analysis included univariate analysis, bivariate analysis, Pearson’s chi squared test and multinomial logistic regression models. Results were presented using graphs
and tables.
Results: Overall, the association between socio-demographic factors and employment status was
found to be statistically significant [p≤0.05]. Results indicated that levels of informal
employment are very low among South Africans (9%) compared to migrants (24%). Tertiary
education was found to offer more employment opportunities for South Africans than it does for
migrants. Females were found to have fewer employment opportunities compared to males.
However, South African females were found to have more employment opportunities compared
to migrant females. Individuals who had been married were found to have more employment
opportunities compared to those who had never been married. Migrants who were based in rural
areas were found to have more employment opportunities compared to those based in urban
areas.
Conclusion: The comparison between migrants and non-migrants revealed that there are
important differences in the employment status of these two sub-populations groups.
Recommendations: The study recommended that the South African government should
consider investing more resources on female education, and encourage entrepreneurship through
effective channels in order to boost self-employment among South Africans.
Description
A research report submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters Degree (MA) in the field
of Demography and Population Studies to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, 2021