Increasing youth unemployment a threat to the ongoing stability of the nation

FORGET Generation X, Y and Z; the real threat to the ongoing stability of the nation is Generation M — M for Missing. While the official employment figures for May look reasonable they mask an underlying and growing crisis. The number of young people in employment is continuing to shrink at a steady rate. Youth employment peaked in mid-2008. Since then it has shrunk by more than more 7 per cent. That is, 140,000 young people have dropped out of the official record. In some areas, youth unemployment is now more than twice the national average. Under-employment of young Australians also ­exceeds that of the broader ­labour market, with around 30 per cent of young workers without work or sufficient hours of work. The chief executive of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), Kate Carnell, says a lost generation is being created. “The youth participation rate measures the number of young people in the work force in any form,” she said. “If they’re getting the dole, they’re in the participation rate. But these young people have just disappeared. They’re not there. They’re not working or looking for work, they’re not earning or learning.” Carnell thinks some may be working in the cash economy, others may be simply sitting on the family couch. “There’s a clear disengagement and if they’re disengaged at 25, they’ll be disengaged at 45 and they’ll become long-term unemployed,’ she said. The prospect of hundreds of thousands, if not future millions, floating in society constitutes a very real problem. ACCI’s director employment, education and training, Jenny Lambert, said policy decisions by the previous federal government to reduce apprenticeship incentives and of state governments which have seen support funding for training in key entry level occupations fall dramatically have also failed young Australians. And unions continue to hinder the chances of young people competing in the job market by seeking wage rises for apprentices and juniors.