This book investigates the life experiences of youth in South Africa, considering whether contemporary youth have benefitted from the socioeconomic reconstruction of post-apartheid society.

Student protests against apartheid drove transformative change in South Africa, and the subsequent new constitution promised positive change for the nation’s youth across a range of sectors. Adopting a sociological perspective, this book uses primary and secondary data sources to illustrate the myriad ways post-apartheid socioeconomic developments have impacted the life experiences of the country’s youth across areas including health, education, family life, economic activity, technology, substance use, and politics. The book considers the historical legacy of colonialism, racism and immigration in shaping the context in which youth experiences in the country have evolved. The book argues that in 1976 South Africa’s youth became the conscience of the nation when they brought the apartheid regime to its knees during the Soweto uprising. What happens to them now will continue to define the nation’s future.

This book will be of interest to researchers across the social sciences, most especially in the fields of Sociology, Demography, Development Studies, and Psychology.

The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available by KU 2024 under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Acheampong Yaw Amoateng is a Professor Emeritus of Sociology & Family Studies at the North-West University, South Africa.

Elizabeth Biney is a Researcher and education activist at Equal Education, a civil society organisation advocating for quality and equality in the South African education system. She was formerly a Postdoctoral Fellow at North-West University, South Africa.