VET News

A Better Future For Young Australians

The Australian Government Productivity Commission released a research paper in July 2020 analysing the trends in young people's incomes between 2001 and 2018.  This paper sought to identify the drivers behind the decline in young people's incomes after 2008.

The outcomes of this paper showed that wage income drove most of the decline.  Declines in hours worked and in wage rates both contributed to the decline in young people' wage income. 

"Young people have experienced a 'lost decade' of income growth." Commissioner Catherine de Fontenay said.  "This means they entered the COVID-19 crisis already on lower wages and usually with limited savings.  Young people face discouraging prospects in a tough job market; and there is a danger they will simply give up on their aspirations as they take positions further down the jobs ladder".

In a Youth Futures Summit address this week, the Prime Minister, the Hon. Scott Morrison, spoke with Sophie Johnston, Youth Commissioner of the National Youth Commission Australia saying that young people are feeling the blow of this economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the COVID-19 recession it has caused, more than arguably any other part of our community.  

"The way our economy has been impacted by the shutdowns means that it's actually young people, while being the first to be impacted, will also be the first to find jobs again", said the Prime Minister.  "But we know we have to do more than that to ensure that young people get opportunities again.  And that is why I've put $2 billion dollars into a JobTrainer fund and its supporting 180,000 apprentices and it's creating 340,000 additional training places for people who will be looking for those opportunities as they come out of school or they lose employment.  We're putting a lot of effort into skills training in this country and we'll be ensuring that those university places are maintained and kept up to ensure those who will be looking for university options when they leave school."

Youth Commissioner Sophie Johnston said that young people were struggling in insecure work even before the crisis, experiencing low wage growth and struggling to get into work that was relevant to what they had studied.  

The Prime Minister responded with a reassuring message based on the actions previously taken by the government saying that getting young people in jobs is its strategy and its plan.  He continued to say that young people need the training, the skills and the jobs to realise their economic opportunities and that they can look at what the government has done and how quickly they did it to know that, if people are needing help, they are going to get it.  

Click the below links for further information:

• Youth Futures Summit address and Q&A full transcript
• Visual summary of the Australian Government Productivity Commission research outcomes

Date posted Aug 27, 2020