Wednesday 27 May
Budget to address youth unemployment?

Youth Week organisers say they are hoping tomorrow’s Budget includes something to address mounting youth unemployment New Zealand Aotearoa Adolescent Health and Development (NZAAHD) coordinates Youth Week (23-31 May), which aims to create a society that supports young people.

NZAAHD executive officer Sarah Helm said youth unemployment was likely to reach 25% during the recession, and so young people need the support of positive government interventions.

“Now is the time to invest in education and training for young people so that they are developing skills to build a strong workforce that will move us out of recession. We hope tomorrow’s budget is proactive in this area,” Ms Helm says This year the French government announced a 1.3 billion euro scheme to help France’s youth, currently struggling with soaring unemployment. At the heart of the programme are schemes for trainees and interns.

The British government’s 2009 budget included 260 million pounds for skills and training to help young people gain employment. Other proposals to help young people who are unemployed included a scheme called CareFirst offering 50,000 traineeships in social care to young people who have been out of work for a year or longer. The Government also funded the creation of 150,000 jobs through a new Future Jobs Fund.

In Australia’s federal budget there was a funding rise of $491 million over four years to provide 50,000 extra university places. The government budgeted $433 million to encourage universities to enrol more students from low socioeconomic backgrounds. A $277 million Compact with Young Australians guaranteed training places for every young person under 25 who wishes to upskill.

Additionally the services and health providers that will be supporting young people through this difficult time need funding and support.

“We are pleased the government has already announced a package to help social services address growing needs, and that decision-making on this fund will include representatives from the Ministry of Youth Development.”

New Zealand Aotearoa Adolescent Health and Development (NZAAHD)

ENDS

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