New policy paper by the Centre for Social Impact highlights the significant impact on youth unemployment since COVID-19 with social impacts to affect young people for years to come.
The Centre for Social Impact (CSI) has today released a new policy response to the impact on youth unemployment brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The COVID-19 and Youth Unemployment paper looks at the effect and consequences of the economic shutdowns on employment for young people and policy recommendations to ensure younger Australians can be supported through immediate and long-term challenges ahead.
Lead researcher Professor Paul Flatau from The University of Western Australia said that while COVID-19 has already had significant impacts on youth employment, younger people will be more likely to face deeper impacts in their employment with consequent social impacts in years to come.
“One lasting effect that has occurred after past crises - and that is likely to follow the COVID19 pandemic - is that young people making the transition from education to work will find it more difficult to find employment at entry-level positions due to increased competition for jobs and declining availability of jobs,” Professor Flatau said.
“We are extremely concerned about long-term effects on young people as a result of this pandemic. As research shows, unemployed young people are at greater risk of experiencing mental health problems.
“Without timely and targeted intervention, young adults are at a high risk of missing out on a strong entry into the labour market and, therefore, of being financially disadvantaged and even being welfare dependent for their whole lives,” Professor Flatau said.
Other key points:
The CSI COVID-19 and Youth Unemployment fact sheet is available here.
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