Youth Unemployment Crisis A Ticking Time Bomb

The National Government appears desperate to play down the huge scale of youth unemployment in New Zealand because it has no practical long term solutions to the problem, Labour spokesperson for Youth Affairs Jacinda Ardern said today.

“Social Development Minister Paula Bennett says the Ministry of Social Development’s preliminary results show that around 7000 16 and 17-year-olds are not in any sort of programme or training,” Jacinda Ardern said.

”That is just the tip of the iceberg. Research indicates that the number of young people outside of any work or study is actually ten times that number.

“The latest statistics obtained from Parliament’s library point to 34,900 youths aged 15 to 19 who are either not in employment, education or training, with an additional 39,100 aged between 20 and 24 in the same boat – bringing the total to 74,000.

“New Zealand cannot afford to have more than 70,000 young people completely disengaged from education and without work. It is as ticking time bomb for New Zealand.

“It's time the Government stopped downplaying the issue and took real action.

“Schemes such as Job Ops or Community Max are a temporary fix which focus on young people who are in the system. But there is nothing for the tens of thousands of young who are falling through the gaps.

“National admitted this in Parliament last week, failing to name one initiative the Government is working on to address the huge number of young not in work, on a benefit or in training.

“Clearly National is more focused on massaging benefit numbers than finding a long-term solution to youth unemployment and youth disengagement.

“Allowing large numbers of young people to fall between the cracks can create a groundswell of disaffection and resentment towards society as a whole, and is a recipe for disaster.

“The Government needs to treat this issue seriously, and fast,” Jacinda Ardern said.

Youth unemployment figures

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