Youth unemployment hotspots revealed as warnings COVID-19 crisis will bite for a decade

Young Queenslanders who’ve lost their jobs in the COVID-19 lockdown risk being disadvantaged or welfare dependent for life, as some towns record eye-watering rates of youth unemployment. SEE WHERE THE TROUBLE SPOTS ARE

TOOWOOMBA and Ipswich have emerged as centres for Queensland’s unemployment crisis, as experts warn the financial effects of COVID-19 are setting up some for a lifetime of struggle.

A quarter of all young people in Toowoomba and one in five in Ipswich were out of a job last month in the most drastic jumps compared with just a year ago, according to the Queensland Government’s latest analysis of Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures.

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One in five aged under 24 were also unemployed in Logan/Beaudesert and in the Outback, 22 per cent in Wide Bay, 16 per cent in Moreton Bay’s northern suburbs, and in Townsville, while the Sunshine Coast, Moreton Bay’s south, central Queensland and Brisbane’s west fared only slightly better.

The devastating numbers come as a new report by the Centre for Social Impact found the hit to young Australians from COVID-19 shutdowns could last up to a decade – as it did after the Global Financial Crisis.

The report, authored by experts from several leading universities, says impacts will be particularly acute in regional Queensland, and that the problems are likely worse than what it reflected in official statistics, with the ABS only recording people actively looking.

“Younger people will be more likely to face deeper impacts in their employment with consequent social impacts in years to come,” the report says.

“One lasting effect that has occurred after past crisis, and that is likely to follow the COVID-19 pandemic, is that young people making the transition from education to work will find it more difficult to find employment at entry-level positions due to increased competition for jobs and declining availability of jobs.”

People are seen queuing outside the Centrelink office in Southport on the Gold Coast in March as the pandemic hit Australia. Picture: AP/Dan Peled

It said young adults were at risk of “being financially disadvantaged and even being welfare dependent for their whole lives” as a consequence of COVID-19 if there was not timely and targeted intervention from governments.

Aaron Burroughs, 24, of Raceview, said he was forced to apply for Jobseeker payments after work dried up due to COVID-19. Picture: Liam Kidston

Those who find jobs would have to do more unpaid intern work to score them, would struggle with underemployment even more than in the past, and would see their future earnings cut for a decade or more because of the current downturn, the report found.

Those not in full-time study, or without a bachelor’s degree, could expect their likelihood of employment to fall by 11 per cent, and the report recommends those in their final year of study to study for an extra year to delay their entry into the job market until a better time.

Labourer Aaron Burroughs, 24, of Raceview, said he was forced to apply for Jobseeker payments after work dried up due to COVID-19.

“The COVID-19 is no good, it’s really affected a lot of people,” he said.

“It will be two weeks before I get any payments.”

UNEMPLOYMENT STATISTICS FOR QUEENSLANDERS (15-24)

Location	April 2019	April 2020
Brisbane East	8.4%	10.3%
Brisbane North	12.4%	11.9%
Brisbane South	11.2%	13.1%
Brisbane West	11.1%	14.1%
Brisbane Inner City	9.5%	10.5%
Ipswich	11%	20.1%
Logan-Beaudesert	17.2%	19.8%
Moreton Bay North	17.7%	16.2%
Moreton Bay South	15.9%	12.4%
Cairns	9.6%	12.1%
Darling Downs-Maranoa	12.9%	11%
Central Queensland	13.5%	14.1%
Gold Coast	9.3%	13.2%
Mackay-Whitsunday	9.6%	10.4%
Outback	23.8%	19.6%
Sunshine Coast	14.3%	14%
Toowoomba	11.2%	24.1%
Townsville	18.4%	16.4%
Wide Bay	17.8%	22.1%

* From Queensland Government Statistician’s Office