oung people in South Africa face many challenges. Those in school face the pressures of finishing school and decisions about whether

to continue studying. Those looking for work face the challenge of finding jobs amidst high unemployment. Relationships with families and friends are always changing and some young adults face questions about whether to start a family.

The Cape Area Panel Study (CAPS) is a project designed to study these challenges – and opportunities – by following the lives of roughly 4,800 Cape Town youth who were between the ages of 14 and 22 years-old in 2002. Using the latest scientific methods in the design of household surveys, we chose households representing all regions of Cape Town, all population groups, and all economic levels. The 4,800 young people are therefore representative of young people across Cape Town.

When the participants in CAPS were first interviewed in 2002 they provided us with lots of information about themselves, including things like when they started school, when they first did any work for pay, whether they were in school and working in 2002, and information about the people with whom they lived. About one-third of these participants were interviewed again in 2003, and most of the other two-thirds were re-interviewed in 2004. These follow-up interviews are very important for our study, allowing us to learn about the transitions that young people make as they move through school, begin to work, and start their own families.

CAPS is one of the largest scholarly surveys ever conducted in Cape Town. It is also one of the largest “panel” surveys – i.e. a survey in which the same group, or “panel”, of participants is re-interviewed over a period of time – in Africa. The information collected will be of value not just to anyone who wants to understand the lives of young people in Cape Town itself, but to researchers and policy-makers across South Africa and

elsewhere in the world.

CAPS is a joint project between the Centre for Social Science Research at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan (in the USA). UCT is the premier university in South Africa and indeed Africa as a whole. The Centre for Social Science Research at UCT and the Institute for Social Research in Michigan are, respectively, the African and world leaders in survey-based social sciences.

During 2005 we plan to interview again all of the participants in CAPS, in order to learn about what has happened to them since they were last interviewed. We are very interested in hearing about the recent changes in their lives, especially big changes – since many may have just finished school, begun work for the first time, started living on their own, or had children.

The purpose of this newsletter is to tell participants and others more about the CAPS project: what the data are used for and our plans for 2005. We will also provide answers to some of the questions we are often asked about CAPS. We greatly appreciate the continued cooperation of the participants in this important study, and we hope this information will be useful. This is the first in what will be a series of CAPS Newsletters, and we welcome any comments, questions or suggestions about the project. Our contact details are on the back page.

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The information that participants provide to CAPS is computerized and combined with the information from the other 4,800 participants. Any information that could be used to identify participants, such as names, addresses, or names of your family members, is carefully removed to protect your confidentiality. The computerized data is then used by researchers to improve our understanding of issues facing young people in South Africa. The data sets that we create are made available for any researchers to use, and can be downloaded from the CAPS web site.

Researchers use these data in writing research papers, articles for scholarly journals and books. The research also contributes to policy-making by government and non-government organizations.

The information in CAPS will help us understand questions such as:

L What factors affect whether young people finish school, pass matric, and go on to further study?

L How do young people find work after leaving school? How important are connections with families and friends?

L How optimistic are young people about their futures and their future job prospects?

L How are young people affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic?

L How are young people affected when their household experiences income loss, unemployment, or the death of a household member?

L How do childhood experiences of young people affect their adult lives?

The CAPS data have many advantages over the data previously available in South Africa, such as the Population Census. First, it focuses on the lives of young people, and the unique issues that affect them. Second, it is a panel study, meaning that we follow the same group, or “panel”, of individuals over time. This makes it possible to study the complicated transitions that young people make in their lives, such as leaving school, entering the labour market, and starting a family. How do the choices made by young people affect their lives thereafter? The CAPS data can then be used to understand and address more effectively the problems affecting young people over the course of their lives.

Over 70% of CAPS participants were born in Cape Town, with 18% born in the

Eastern Cape.

In the 2002 CAPS survey we asked participants about the family members they had lived with during their lives as well as in 2002 itself. This helps researchers and policy makers understand how families change and how early life experiences may affect later outcomes.

This chart shows that most CAPS participants lived with both of their parents until their early teenage years: 60% lived with both parents at age 6 and 53% lived with both parents at age 12. About 30% lived with only their mother while growing up, and 7-8% lived with grandparents.

By age 18 we see that young adults are beginning to live away from parents, with over 20% living on their own or with someone other than a parent or grandparent.

As shown in the left graph, CAPS participants had high rates of school enrollment while they were growing up, with over 99% enrolled at age 10 and 12, and almost 90% at age 14. However, the right hand graph shows that not all participants went through school at the same pace. Learners who begin Grade 1 at age 6 will reach Grade 9 at

age 14 if they complete one grade per year. The chart shows that by age 14 only 48% of those in school had reached Grade 9, and 27% were in Grade 7 or below.

We collect a great deal of information in CAPS about young people’s experiences with school and work. Learners, educators, parents, and policy makers are all concerned about how to make schools work better and how to guarantee a quality education for all South Africans.

Our CAPS data tells us a great deal about the educational experience of our participants. As shown in the graphs above, almost 100% of our participants were enrolled in school until age 14, and enrolment rates continue to be high at older ages. Not all learners progress through school at the same rate, however, despite high levels of enrolment. Many learners repeat at least one grade, with boys having higher repetition rates than girls. Our data tell us that girls move through school faster than boys. As shown in the graph below, 39% of girls had finished Grade 10 by age 16, compared to 31% of boys.

Another major focus of CAPS is the transition from school to work. Information provided by those who have left school and started to work tells us that family and friends are very important in finding jobs. Among those who had jobs in our 2004 round of interviews, 32% said that they got the job through family or other members of their household. Another 34% found jobs through friends. Only 27% got their jobs through direct contact with potential employers, by answering advertisements in newspapers, or through employment agencies. This important role played by family members is one of the reasons we collect detailed information about family members of CAPS participants.

These are just a few examples of the kinds of information provided in CAPS about work and school. These data will be important in developing programs to improve schools and improve employment opportunities for young adults.

The CAPS data show that girls tend to go through school faster than boys. This chart shows that by

age 16, 39% of girls have finished at least Grade 10, compared to only 31% of boys.

This chart shows that 32% of CAPS participants who had jobs in our 2004 interviews found their jobs

through family or other household members. Another 34% found their jobs through friends.

How are CAPS participants chosen?

The CAPS study was designed to represent all residents of Cape Town who were between the ages of 14 and 22 in late 2002. In order to select households, we began by choosing about 440 neighbourhoods from all parts of metropolitan Cape Town (see the map on the front page of this newsletter). Then we randomly selected about 25 households from each of these neighbourhoods. This was done by choosing, for example, every tenth house in a neighbourhood. As a result, the CAPS sample is representative of all geographic areas, population groups, and income levels in Cape Town. Within the selected households we tried to interview all young people between the ages of 14 and 22 years old. This is why in many cases we interviewed brothers and sisters.

What happens to the information CAPS participants provide?

We carefully examine the questionnaires brought in by our interviewers to check they have been completed and the answers are clear. In some cases we have to return to the participant to clarify something or to ask a question that was missed. We also contact some participants to make sure that the interview was conducted appropriately. After that, we have a heavy task of “cleaning” the computerized dataset and organizing it in ways that make it user-friendly so that it can be given to researchers.

How is confidentiality protected?

It is very important to us that we protect the confidentiality of all of the information given us. The paper questionnaires that are filled in by our interviewers are kept in locked rooms at UCT. Although we need to keep track of names and contact details in order to find participants for future rounds of CAPS, these details are only used by the project staff. We remove all names, addresses, and other identifying information before we allow researchers to use the computerized data. While researchers can see the answers that our participants gave to the interviewers, they have no idea who actually provided those answers.

Why is each individual’s participation important?

The CAPS sample represents approximately 1% of the population of Cape Town that was age 14 to 22 in 2002. This means that the role of each participant in the CAPS study is to “represent” about 100 other young adults who are similar. If we lose a CAPS participant from the study, it is as if we lose the information for 100 young people in Cape Town with similar characteristics. Since the goal of CAPS is to understand the lives of all young people in Cape Town, it is important that we continue to follow all of the people who were chosen to participate in 2002. The value of a panel data-set depends on having a complete set of information on participants, from all of the interviews.

What happens when CAPS participants move out of Cape Town?

Our goal is to keep track of all of the participants who were selected for the CAPS sample in 2002, even if they move out of Cape Town. Some of the participants in CAPS have moved to the Eastern Cape or elsewhere in South Africa, and some have even moved overseas. Our interviewing and tracking teams will try to locate participants who move by contacting family members or the individuals whose contact details were given to us. We will use the mail, telephone and internet to try to reach participants. In the event that participants do move, we would really appreciate it if they would send us their new address, by mail, e-mail, telephone or whatever method is convenient.

What are the benefits from participating in CAPS?

With 4,800 young adults in our sample, we unfortunately cannot offer employment, bursaries or financial compensation to our participants. As a sign of our great appreciation, we like to offer small tokens of our gratitude. We hope that participants will find the experience interesting and that they will appreciate the fact that they are making a valuable contribution to our understanding of the lives of young people, and to the improvement of programs and policies that affect young South Africans.