Ottawa highlights employment challenges for younger workers

Unemployment rates rose by six percentage points from 2019 to 2020, roughly twice the increase seen among older Canadians

Ottawa highlights employment challenges for younger workers

New stats from the Canadian government serve to highlight the challenges facing younger people in the pandemic.

Unemployment rates for young Canadians increased by about six percentage points from 2019 to 2020, roughly twice the increase seen among older Canadians.

By 2020, the unemployment rates of young men and women aged 15 to 30 and not in school full-time stood at 15.5 per cent and 13.7 per cent, respectively, according to Statistics Canada (StatCan).

And the percentage of those not employed in education or training (NEET) increased by three to four percentage points from 2019 to 2020.

“These relatively high unemployment rates suggest that young high school and postsecondary graduates who entered the labour market in 2020 or who will do so in 2021 might see lower earnings in the years following graduation than they would have in a more dynamic labour market,” according to StatCan.

A report from the ILO last year found that younger workers were suffering disproportionately amid the pandemic compared to older workers.

Also, the employment rate for young women who are not in school full-time dropped to 71 per cent in 2020 from 78.8 per cent in 2019. For young men, the rate dropped to 72.1 per cent last year from 80.5 per cent, says Ottawa.

In contrast, the employment rates of older workers fell by roughly four percentage points from 2019 to 2020.

With these numbers, median real hourly wages of young male and female full-time employees grew by nine per cent and 11 per cent, respectively, from 2019 to 2020, according to StatCan.

Nearly a third of young people globally feel their current education is not preparing them with the skills they need to get jobs, according to UNICEF.

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