An Exploration of the Relationship between Retirement age and Youth Unemployment in South Africa

Abstract

The legal retirement age in South Africa is 60 for women and 65 for men however, so many people continue working even after they passed their retirement age. The retirement age does not force people to retire or force employers to terminate the employment of individuals who have reached the retirement age. This paper therefore emphasize that poor control of retirement system affect the youth employment. The objective of this paper was to show a correlation between youth unemployment and having elderly employees in private and public sector institutions. Proper and effective control of retirement system in South Africa will create employment opportunities for the unemployed youth. This study found that youth unemployment in South Africa is growing and failure to put a stop or trying to minimize it might be a problem for the people and the government soon. This article explored the impact of failure to retire by those who have reached retirement age in government and private sector institutions. Effective implementation of the retirement age of the prescribed legal age would increase job opportunities in government and private institutions.