What are the things about South Africa that you worry about the most?

Right now, maybe it’s whether or not your child will ever be able to get a degree, or maybe it’s over Zuma remaining president until death do us part.

A new study by Ipsos, done through an online survey of people aged under 65 in 25 countries, including our own, found that unemployment is the biggest worry in the world, while financial / political corruption is South Africa’s.

No surprise there.

According to Business Tech:

[The study] probes the issues which most worry most populations and investigates whether people think things in their country are headed in the right direction.

It finds overall that people across all 25 countries are more likely to think things in their country are off on the wrong track (63%), than headed in the right direction (37%.)

Most pessimistic are the French, 88% of whom think things are going wrong, with only 12% feeling that things are going well.

The most optimistic are countries which have seen recent sustained periods of economic growth; China, where 90% say things are headed in the right direction, Saudi Arabia (71%), and India (67%).

Here’s the world’s collective worries:

And South Africa’s worries, which aren’t that different:

And here’s a bit of explanation from Mari Harris, head of Public Affairs at Ipsos:

South Africans have moved from optimism to pessimism, especially over the last year or so. We can see the effect of this despondency in the unrest in the country, both in terms of service delivery protests and the issues in higher education and the results of the recent local government elections. Trust in the government and in the president is at an all-time low.

Of course, after all, #ZumaMustFall.

[source:businesstech]