Youth unemployment and the pandemic

This report puts the spotlight on the disproportionate impact of the [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 pandemic on young Australians. Young people make up just 14 per cent of the workforce but bore 55 per cent of the job losses during the 2021 lockdowns. This crisis has compounded decades of high youth unemployment and underemployment, highlighted pre-existing problems for young people trying to find a job. The authors propose that now is the time for long-term policies to help and protect young people in the labour market.

Most policy approaches to youth employment in Australia focus heavily on what economists might call 'supply-side' employment measures, such as training jobseekers to improve their skills, and funding services that help people find and apply for jobs. However, the focus on supply-side policies ignores the fact that there simply are not enough jobs available for everyone who wants one. To address this issue, the following policy recommendations are put forward: (1) a Youth Job Guarantee, which should include private sector job creation programs; expanded public sector graduate programs; de-privatising and better funding employment services; and personalisation of employment support; (2) adequate income support - insufficiency of support can also undermine efforts to find work; (3) affordable tertiary education; (4) protection for casual employees; and (5) better targeting of stimulus spending towards labour-intensive industries and workers hit hardest.

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