Just wanted to expand quickly on Grant’s post yesterday.
The latest Household Labour Force Survey showed another jump in unemployment for 15-19 year olds. We’re now at 25%.
The last time we saw unemployment at this level for this age group was in the 1990’s (it got to 24.5% in 1993) but I’ve gone back over 20 years and still can’t find a time when it was quite this bad.
The government did have a go at tackling youth unemployment a few months back, but our worry then (and now) was that the package wasn’t going to make the kind of difference required.
With 62,700 young people out of work, we still need a plan.
I have a 19 year old just about to end his first year of tertiary study who really, really wants to work for the summer, but guess what…he is competing with displaced desperate adults for pizza and table clearing positions & other trad student jobs. A great introduction, pause not, to “working” life for him if he has to encounter the WINZ obstacle course at his age.
“Wheres the plan?” is a good short term slogan to put the Govt. on the spot which may see more people click on at last to the lite weight lot they elected, but there had better be a snappy, even dare I suggest it, bullet point list of alternatives from the opposition. Things like reverse education and public service cuts, public works programmes bought forward, Research and development funding, etc.
The plan is very simple.It has to be for paula.Part one is to blame it on 9 long years under labour and when that wanes part two is blame it on the unemployed because it’s a lifestyle choice.
Those poor people trying to feed their families
Refreshing blog, who’da thought, direct access to elected reps. I commented before on this, Nats own most of the media and Kiwi Blog so who needs a Blue Alert? Not moi anyway.
Hang in Spud, its a long ride being politically aware!
The only thing I can think of specifically for young people (like I’d like to do if I get canned) is increase the payment amount and provide government run riparian planting, weed clearing, pest trapping and forestry planting camp style…
If we have young, single, mainly city people, what better way to get out and see our beautiful country, help fix our environment, reduce our carbon profile and provide employment..?
It’s really very scary. My year are leaving school in a few days, and many are facing a first year at university without having been able to earn any money over Summer.
It’s not fair.
[...] Labour MP Jacinda Ardern blogs her concern that the unemployment rate for under 20s has reached 25%. I share her concern. [...]
Jacinda, you said that with 62,700 young people out of work, we still need a plan.
The problem is caused by government in the first place, so I suggest to you Jacinda to get the government out from the business of regulating minimum wages, because there is your problem right there in front of your eyes (government interference). If you leave the market alone so it sorts itself out, then we won’t see the youth unemployment rate climbing up higher in comparison to the past as we see today.
Stop trying to dictate to private business owners by regulating minimum wages. If you don’t believe what I am suggesting here (ie, get government out from the business of regulating minimum wages), then you (and all of your colleagues), should read the following paper. New Zealand employment figures is quoted in that study. Note that Prof. NeuMark (co-author of the paper), is an expert on this issue, so I advise you and your colleague to wake up to the reality of government interference and get the hell out from regulating businesses. Leave them alone and the problem will go away.
“MINIMUM WAGES, LABOR MARKET INSTITUTIONS, AND YOUTH EMPLOYMENT: A CROSS-NATIONAL ANALYSIS”
http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/feds/2003/200323/200323pap.pdf
Somebody has been reading Kiwiblog…
Get the government out of the way Jacinda and stop those nice business people from employing all those 11 year olds who just wanna do a good days work as a sheet metal worker for $2.50 an hour…
*Tongue firmly in cheek*
@Jeremy Harris, this isn’t about child labor, it’s about people like myself who are unable to earn ANY money because of the high minimum wage. Tell me where that 11 year old sheet worker works, I want to see if they are still hiring.
It’s all well and good to say that young people’s time is worth the same as adults, but the only reason people used to hire us is because we were cheaper – we aren’t very responsible, we aren’t very reliable, the only advantage we had was that we were allowed to work for less than adults.
$2.50 an hour is a hell of a lot better than what myself and most of my friends earn – $0.00 an hour.