1st September, 2014
More than a quarter of Australians aged between 15 and 24-years-old – 580,000 young people – are either underemployed or unemployed, according to a new Brotherhood of St Laurence paper.
The Barely Working: Young and Underemployed in Australia report, released today, contains an analysis of ABS data which shows that as well as 270,000 unemployed, more than 310,000 young people are now underemployed, a figure which means the proportion of underemployed young people is twice that of the overall working age population.
It shows that the trend for underemployment among young people has intensified since the Global Financial Crisis and that for every year but one between 2001 and 2012, the proportion of employed young people in non-permanent work was more than 50 per cent compared with between 30 to 35 per cent for all age groups.
Tony Nicholson, executive director of the Brotherhood of St Laurence, said the "devastating" data shows how much the job market had changed for young people now facing a "dual assault" on their aspirations for the future.
"The unemployment rate for young people now stands at the highest since 2001 and the underemployment rate for young people is the highest since 1978," he said. "As a nation we really need to develop the potential of our emerging generation, but far too many of our young people are now at risk of joining the ranks of ‘generation jobless’ in the modern economy."
Mr Nicholson said "tinkering" with welfare policy won’t help and added that withdrawing benefits for some of our most marginalised young people will have "harsh, unintended consequences".
"Australia really needs a national youth transitions strategy to assist young people to build their qualifications, skills and experience to obtain a job and create a good future for themselves," he said.
~ www.bsl.org.au/Advocacy/Youth-employment.aspx
– DAVID ADAMS
