Over 80% of young women date older men amid job crisis: Study

Over 80 percent of young African women in impoverished areas in South Africa are engaging in sexual relationships with older men, as youth unemployment reached an all-time high.

A recent study by the National Shelter Movement of South Africa (NSMSA) revealed that economic hardship, gender inequality and social media trends are driving transactional relationships between older men and young women and girls.

According to NSMSA National Coordinator Anisa Moosa, young women enter age-gap relationships to meet their basic survival needs.

“And so young women find themselves getting into relationships where there’s, you know, we also call the blesser-blessee relationships in a more formal concept, your transactional or intergenerational relationship. So it makes these two elements meet the big age gap with young girls and older men.

Moosa adds, “But also when we talk about a transactional relationship, it’s something for return. You know, basic needs are fulfilled in a relationship like that. And that’s a big driving force.”