Almost one-third of Australian young people are unemployed or
underemployed, the highest level in 40 years, according to a report
released on Monday.
The rate of underemployment – now at 18% – has become an entrenched feature of the youth labour market, according to the Generation Stalled report, commissioned by the Brotherhood of St Laurence.
It has eclipsed the rate of 13.5% youth unemployment and is far ahead of the overall rate of 8.6%, itself historically high but stable.
The head of the Brotherhood of St Laurence, Tony Nicholson, said the record rates particularly hurt people who don’t go to university and gain qualifications and skills “to navigate the fast-changing modern economy”.
“Stable work is the passport for our young people to build a good life for themselves,” he said. “Young people starting out today face a much harsher job scenario than their parents and grandparents did.”
The report analysed data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and
the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey.
“The youth unemployment rate for 15- to 24-year-olds has remained stubbornly high since the global financial crisis, a profound economic ruction which has cast a near decade-long shadow on the prospects of youth in many developed nations,” said the report.
“Australia has been far from immune, and increasingly unemployment rates tell only part of the story of young people’s more fraught experience of entering the workplace today compared with generations past.”
In February there were more than 650,000 people aged between 15 and 24 looking for work or underemployed. It pointed towards a rapid growth in insecure and nonpermanent jobs, with young people far more likely to be in casual and part-time jobs than at the turn of the century.
The gap between the hours young people want to work and their actual working hours has widened over 15 years, it found.
“The growing number of young people combining study with work does not explain the rise in underemployment, as the rise in the percentage of casual and part-time jobs has mostly been among young workers who are not studying.”
By 2014, 39.3% of non-students were in casual work, and 35.8% in part-time roles, both rates at their highest since 2001.
The report also found a rise in young people working in service industries, with 30% of 15- to 19-year-olds and 10% of 20- to 24-year-olds working in the sector in 1986 and 70% and 40% respectively in 2016.
In November, the Foundation for Young Australians reported the proportion of young people in part-time work had exceeded the proportion of those in full-time work.
It estimated that if youth unemployment and underemployment rates were brought in line with the adult labour force, it would generate an additional $11.3bn to the GDP through the extra 125m hours worked.
The Australian singer-songwriter Jimmy Barnes, who has spoken in support of the organisation’s youth employment campaign, said older generations owed it to young people to do better.
“The world of work has become that much more complicated,” he said.
“Yet too often we keep blaming the victims of these huge economic changes rather than addressing the challenge of helping people into working life.”
The federal minister for employment, Michaelia Cash, told Guardian Australia the government was building a strong economy “that enables employers to be more productive, more competitive, more innovative and to create more job opportunities”.
“This is why every policy lever we have at our disposal is pulling in the direction of jobs and growth,” Cash said.
The government was funding several programs to help young people acquire the skills that would get them into the workforce, she said.
The offices of the shadow minister for employment have been contacted for comment
The rate of underemployment – now at 18% – has become an entrenched feature of the youth labour market, according to the Generation Stalled report, commissioned by the Brotherhood of St Laurence.
It has eclipsed the rate of 13.5% youth unemployment and is far ahead of the overall rate of 8.6%, itself historically high but stable.
The head of the Brotherhood of St Laurence, Tony Nicholson, said the record rates particularly hurt people who don’t go to university and gain qualifications and skills “to navigate the fast-changing modern economy”.
“Stable work is the passport for our young people to build a good life for themselves,” he said. “Young people starting out today face a much harsher job scenario than their parents and grandparents did.”
“The youth unemployment rate for 15- to 24-year-olds has remained stubbornly high since the global financial crisis, a profound economic ruction which has cast a near decade-long shadow on the prospects of youth in many developed nations,” said the report.
“Australia has been far from immune, and increasingly unemployment rates tell only part of the story of young people’s more fraught experience of entering the workplace today compared with generations past.”
In February there were more than 650,000 people aged between 15 and 24 looking for work or underemployed. It pointed towards a rapid growth in insecure and nonpermanent jobs, with young people far more likely to be in casual and part-time jobs than at the turn of the century.
The gap between the hours young people want to work and their actual working hours has widened over 15 years, it found.
“The growing number of young people combining study with work does not explain the rise in underemployment, as the rise in the percentage of casual and part-time jobs has mostly been among young workers who are not studying.”
By 2014, 39.3% of non-students were in casual work, and 35.8% in part-time roles, both rates at their highest since 2001.
The report also found a rise in young people working in service industries, with 30% of 15- to 19-year-olds and 10% of 20- to 24-year-olds working in the sector in 1986 and 70% and 40% respectively in 2016.
In November, the Foundation for Young Australians reported the proportion of young people in part-time work had exceeded the proportion of those in full-time work.
It estimated that if youth unemployment and underemployment rates were brought in line with the adult labour force, it would generate an additional $11.3bn to the GDP through the extra 125m hours worked.
The Australian singer-songwriter Jimmy Barnes, who has spoken in support of the organisation’s youth employment campaign, said older generations owed it to young people to do better.
“The world of work has become that much more complicated,” he said.
“Yet too often we keep blaming the victims of these huge economic changes rather than addressing the challenge of helping people into working life.”
The federal minister for employment, Michaelia Cash, told Guardian Australia the government was building a strong economy “that enables employers to be more productive, more competitive, more innovative and to create more job opportunities”.
“This is why every policy lever we have at our disposal is pulling in the direction of jobs and growth,” Cash said.
The government was funding several programs to help young people acquire the skills that would get them into the workforce, she said.
The offices of the shadow minister for employment have been contacted for comment
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