Each time the news comes on I hear Labour's Megan Woods talking about how one in four young people is unemployed. The "crisis". The "tragedy".
Yes. Officially they are 'unemployed'. But when you look a little closer two thirds of them are 'in education'. Only 9 percent of all 15-19 year-olds are not in employment, education or training.
That's a picture a little less bleak.
(This tends to also give weight to my earlier suggestion that more young
people are being supported by a student allowance instead of the dole
hence the low numbers on unemployment benefit.)
Part of my problem with Woods' remonstrations is that young people (and others) begin to believe there are no jobs for them. That they have an excuse not to look. Even I found myself saying to job-seeking son, "It's tough out there right now", trying to be realistic and ward off a sense of personal failure if he couldn't find work. At the same time I was telling him that prospective employers would appreciate him asking for a job, being proactive and they did.
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2 comments:
Those bleak stats also makes us look like the UK in terms of youth unemployment. Glad you've corrected the misinformation.
Congratulations to your son.
Thank you S. Beast. Just a bit worried that it happened too quickly for him!
I'd like my children to be empathetic to the experience of others.
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