Includes bibliographical references. / In the era of rampant youth unemployment, governments are rethinking strategies to respond to this global crisis. At the centre of these strategies is the promotion of youth-owned informal micro-businesses. While literature acknowledges the challenges faced by youth in running their informal micro-businesses, there is much less in the way of information that explores immigrant informal businesses. This is a qualitative study aimed at exploring the circumstances and experiences of youth immigrants when establishing and running a successful informal microbusiness. This study was conducted amongst youth owners of informal micro-businesses and four service providers in Cape Town. Twenty in-depth interviews were done with these participants. The four service providers represented a non-governmental organisation (NGO), a government department, a commercial bank and a government funding agency. The study indicated that the reasons why immigrant youth start their informal micro-businesses varied. For the unemployed it was a solution to unemployment, some of those who were working did so because they wanted to earn more, while others desired a flexible work environment. In addition, the study showed that there are many challenges faced by immigrant youth during the establishment and growth phases of their businesses.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uct/oai:localhost:11427/11163 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Kondowe, Calisto |
| Contributors | Booyens, Margaret |
| Publisher | University of Cape Town, Faculty of Humanities, Department of Social Development |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Master Thesis, Masters, MSocSci |
| Format | application/pdf |
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