Exclusion of migrant youth from the South African welfare services: A case study

Abstract

This case study presents qualitative findings on migrant youth’s coping strategies on their exclusion from the welfare services of South Africa. South Africa like any other country experiences an increased number of young people who migrated from their countries of origin. Several studies show that immigrants including migrant youth upon their arrival in South Africa face challenges of exclusion from welfare services. It is from this background that this study sought to explore migrant youth’ coping strategies for their sustainable livelihoods. Ten migrant youth in Musina town who are accommodated in shelters managed by churches were used as a case study and were purposively and conveniently selected to participate in this study. Data was collected through face to face semi-structured interviews and analysed thematically through the assistance of the Nvivo software. Resilience theory was used to guide this study. Findings reveal various coping strategies that migrant youth employ to mitigate their exclusion from the South African welfare services. Recommendations, integrated intervention and future research are provided in this paper.