Today marks International Youth Day, and the NZCTU's youth network Stand Up is calling on the Government to do better by young workers – following the bleak news last week that youth are massively overrepresented in the latest unemployment and underutilisation figures.
Last week, the latest data on unemployment and underutilisation showed that amidst increases in both rates, those 24 and under were hit particularly hard. Unemployment for 15-19-year-olds was 20.7 percent, up from 15.1 percent at the same time last year, and for 20-24-year-olds it was 8.0 percent, up from 5.8 percent in the same period.
As Stats NZ Labour market manager Deb Brunning said, "young people accounted for almost half the increase in unemployment and underutilisation between the June 2023 and 2024 quarters."
In response to this latest data, last week Nicola Willis had the nerve to tell our rangatahi to "do their bit to get a job, to educate themselves." This smacks of condescension when those facing unemployment can only apply for jobs that exist - and we know that there are fewer jobs out there - with Seek reporting a 35% decrease in job listings in the year to June 2024.
Fewer vacancies, more jobseekers competing for roles. Willis may as well be asking someone caught in a rainstorm to do their bit to dry themselves off - pointing out that there's a towel on the ground, while wandering off with the umbrella.
How else can rangatahi "do their bit"? Tertiary education has traditionally been known as "countercyclical" - meaning that in a recession, more people tend to undertake tertiary study. But with living costs so high, and financial support for students so low, that too is out of reach for many.
Nicola Willis' words are hollow at best, and downright insulting at worst.
We've heard why it was apparently necessary for the Reserve Bank to pull its levers - keeping the Official Cash Rate (OCR) high, in turn reducing inflation with flow-on effects that contributed to the higher unemployment figures we're seeing. There were warnings of how this would disproportionately affect certain groups - like rangatahi. Knowing this, and without meaningful action from the Government to cushion the blow, we've essentially thrown younger generations under the bus.
We can't forget that these impacts won't just be felt now, or until the economy improves. Evidence tells us that rangatahi who experience longer amounts of time not in education, employment or training (NEET) can suffer in the long run. They're less likely to find stable employment long term, and are even more likely to suffer poor health outcomes.
The NEET rate for those between 15-24 has increased alongside the other figures. As of June last year, it was 10.3% – having risen to 11.9% this June. In percentage points, it can be hard to sense the real impact - but from Stats NZ estimates this equates to approximately an additional 10,500 rangatahi.
In case you wanted a weird but timely comparison, 10,714 athletes competed at the Paris Olympics this year.
This Wednesday, the Reserve Bank will announce whether it will hold the OCR at 5.5, or whether it will start to drop the rate - as some, such as Kiwibank economists, have recommended.
A rate cut would, in theory, start the process of easing the broader economic situation. But whether or not that happens, Nicola Willis and her Government need to offer more than empty words and head-pats to younger workers - and the many other marginalised parts of our population - who have been thrown under the economic bus.
Dr Zoë Port
Lecturer in Management and
Stand Up Co-convenor
Zoë is a lecturer in Management at Te Kunenga Ki Pūrehuroa Massey University, teaching and researching in the area of work and wellbeing, with a particular interest in younger workers and their wellbeing. Also a young worker, she is Co-Convenor of the CTU's youth network Stand Up, and Youth Chairperson of the International Trade Union Confederation Asia Pacific – speaking up for young workers in the region with more than 60% of the world's youth population.
