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Youth unemployment a ‘crisis’ – Labour

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Youth unemployment a ‘crisis’ – Labour

3News NZ

Youth unemployment is currently at 25 percent (file)

Youth unemployment is currently at 25 percent (file)

The Labour Party is labelling New Zealand's youth unemployment situation a "crisis" and warns the social and financial cost will be felt for years to come.

Latest numbers from Statistics New Zealand show the overall unemployment rate's risen to 7.3 percent - a 13 year high - but youth unemployment is much higher, at 25 percent.

Labour's Youth Affairs spokesperson, Megan Woods, says the flow-on effects are felt in youth health and welfare pay-outs.

“There is the financial burden on our welfare system when we have that many young people who are dependent on the state,” she says.

“It’s all well and good for Paula Bennett and National to talk about the big stick to get young people off welfare, well actually most young people I’ve talked to actually want to work.”

Unemployment rates for young Maori and Pacific Islanders are even worse - Ms Woods says the rate in those communities is above 30 percent.

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Comments

12/11/2012 8:55:58 a.m.

sam wrote:

The party National has failed on every thing they have there hands

11/11/2012 10:46:10 p.m.

Dan wrote:

I like Megan Woods and believe she knows what she's talking about. That Maori Youth Unemployment is above thirty percent is a travesty. I feel that Maori youth and youth from other ethnic groups all have the same amount of energy/motivation and agree with Tariana Turia's assertion that discrimination may be partly to blame.

11/11/2012 7:23:25 p.m.

Kathy wrote:

@CG, I agree.. they are more interested in destroying tapes of meetings at the GCSB or lining their own pockets than actually helping the country out.

11/11/2012 6:43:55 p.m.

Stephen Berry wrote:

Yet the Labour party supports artificially inflating youth wages above the level the market is willing to pay. Odd how the left think increased alcohol and tobacco prices will reduce demand, yet increased youth labour costs have no effect at all.

11/11/2012 5:48:33 p.m.

Mike wrote:

What is Labours solution to the problem?

Well they have spoken out against the reserve bank as Labour wants to increase inflation, devalue our dollar, all to reduce real wages.

Take our min wage of $13.50 currently, with the devaluation and inflation Labor wants, this will reduce it to around $10 buying power. This is at odds with their calls to raise the min wage when their policy does the exact opposite.

Where was the NZ min wage when Labour took office in 1999? Where was it when they left in 2008? How much did Labour actually do to close the gap?

If you look at the figures a big zero is what they did, and their policy now would make it worse not better. Our min wage was around 35th in the world in 2008 when national took office, and rose to 9th in 2011. With the ongoing EU crisis and the US printing money, we have risen to around 5th in the world of almost 200 countries.

This doesn't mean NZ is doing it easy, but we are doing better than most of the world. Raising wages for the sake of raising it wont help anyone, and will just lead us down the road to becoming the Greece of the south pacific. We need to look at tackling it from another direction. The government looking at the RMA will take the edge off the rising housing prices through shortage in auckland, yet even that will be very slow to happen. Personally I would like to see it opened up more, more low/mid housing built which may depress the market 15-20% - but at the same time it would reduce the living costs without raising the incomes.

11/11/2012 5:27:34 p.m.

Carlos wrote:

Bring back conscription.

11/11/2012 5:03:15 p.m.

@CG wrote:

The wait would not be so long if 1. the Maori Party got some guts and walked, and 2. Peter Dunn stopped being spineless and took a stand. Now, wouldn't that make a change!

11/11/2012 3:34:19 p.m.

CG wrote:

The present government of Key/English/Banks is a clueless outfit with outdated punitive policies for the unemployed youth and for anyone that is not born with a silver spoon in their mouths like their own privileged off springs. The unemployment situation in our nation will improve soon after the current pro rich governing outfit is made unemployed from the government. 2014!..Oh, dear, so very long to wait for some common sense, integrity, caring and decency to return!

11/11/2012 10:12:42 a.m.

bukster wrote:

I see in the article Labour may be pointing the finger at these stats. However Labour is not giving the usual, "If we were in power, we would fix this", speech. Labour aren't saying that because they couldn't fix this either. The problem isn't New Zealand. It's the entire world economy. It doesn't matter who's in power. No New Zealand political party can fix this.

11/11/2012 9:59:02 a.m.

John wrote:

Paula Bennett has been shown up yet again as being an absolute fraud. Her mantra of there being loads of jobs on Trade Me and that there is work "out there" is just a total misrepresentation. People are suffering, both young and old, and all this govt has done so far is make things worse by branding anyone on the DPB, ACC, Sickness Benefit or any other assistance as total bludgers. The lies of Bennett and this govt will haunt them for years.