preview

Youth Unemployment And Its Impact On The Australian Youth Economy Essay

Decent Essays

Introduction Youth unemployment has been a constant problem in Australia for decades. In Treasurer Scott Morrison and the Coalition’s 2016-17 budget, a new plan focusing on helping young people join the workforce aims to drastically lower the youth unemployment rate over the next few years: the ‘Youth Jobs PaTH Program’. The $752 million dollar program aims to help up to 120,000 vulnerable young people over the next four years (Budget 2016-17, Queensland Government). However, there is a concern how effective the scheme will be, due to its emphasis on purely internships. Many argue that the Coalition’s youth unemployment scheme ‘Working Futures’ is a better option to lower youth unemployment, for its alternative structure and focus. To decide which one is best for Australia, both the Coalition and Labor Party’s scheme will be judged by analysing their social impacts upon the Australian youth. Background Issue In Australia, youth unemployment has averaged 13.49% between 1978 and 2016 (ABC News, 2016), with it currently resting at 13.24% (Trading Economics, 2016). “This rate is almost double of adult unemployment” (Brotherhood of St Laurence, 2016). It is clear to see in figure 1 below. “In early 2016, the ABS Labor force found that 258,000 youth aged 15-24 was unemployed” (ABS, 2016), accounting for over a third of total unemployment (721,400 people)” (ABS, 2016). There are several reasons youth unemployment exists in Australia, with the primary cause being low economic

Get Access