Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Rigged Against The Young



Newly released research has revealed that the Harper government's job creation record -- put in historical perspective -- is nothing to brag about. But its record of  job creation for young people is undeniably dismal. Armine Yalnizyan writes:

If you look at the proportion of people working by age group, this job recovery has been skewed toward Canadians aged 55 and over. Young people have seen almost no increase in their employment rate and, as you're about to read, the quality of those jobs has deteriorated. This is all the more striking because the young population (aged 15-24) did not grow, while the population of those aged 55 and over has grown by 22 per cent since 2009.

While there was a bigger, more prolonged drop in the employment rate of young workers in the wake of the 1990–1992 recession, today's young workers started off from a lower level and have, as yet, not seen any "recovery." Between 2008 and 2012, almost 30,000 people aged 15-24 wanted work but were not in the labour force and had returned to school; but this number has been falling off and has now returned to 2005 levels. We cannot compare these trends to what happened in the 1990s due to data limitations. We can only hope these investments in human capital will ultimately pay off, for the students and for society.

But, thus far, this recovery has been notable in its absence of job growth and steady job opportunities for young people. Between October 2008 and July 2009, young workers lost 185,000 full-time and 32,000 part-time jobs. Since then, they have recovered only 15,000 full-time jobs, though the number of part-time jobs is almost back to pre-recession levels. However, over the course of the past year, they lost 31,000 part-time jobs and added almost no new full-time jobs.

Yesterday, Kathleen Wynne and Stephen Harper did battle over the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan. Wynne said the plan was needed by young workers -- part of the newly dubbed precariat -- whose new normal is precarious contract or self employment. They will not get workplace pensions. Thirty years in and out with a gold watch is gone. They will know many employers in a work life that will span more than thirty years. Stephen Harper's response was:

I am delighted to see, quite frankly, that our refusal to co-operate with the imposition of this tax is making it more difficult for the Ontario government to proceed.

The day is coming when the young will take out their anger on the fat, old men who stand in their way and the system that is rigged against them.


9 comments:

Dana said...

All they have to do is vote. Don't hold your breath.

Owen Gray said...

Their past performance does not suggest they will, Dana -- unless they really are angry.

Anonymous said...

Re Ontario Pension Plan: I loath the idea that Stephen Harper sees forced savings and keeping more money in Ontario for the purpose of supporting Ontario independence from a harsh, cruel and tyrannical Conservative federal government as a tax.

It shows how small and petty this man is.

Dana said...

If they're really angry they'll just glare at their smart phones harder and walk into more light standards.

There are lots of involved and committed youth, I don't mean to demean an entire demographic.

But there aren't nearly enough and there are plenty of them, like Michael Sona, who have no moral or ethical compass whatever.

Owen Gray said...

Harper's problem, Anon, is that he's always seen Canada solely from the perspective of Alberta. He has no pan Canadian vision.

Owen Gray said...

We can only hope, Dana, that Michael Sona is not representative of his generation.

Mogs Moglio said...

Also the younger gen has to contend with TFW's taking the jobs at slashed wages they would normally fill, we did not have that burden to contend with...

Mogs Moglio said...

"I am delighted to see, quite frankly, that our refusal to co-operate with the imposition of this tax is making it more difficult for the Ontario government to proceed."

Shows the real vindictive power mad dictator hiding in the closet...

Owen Gray said...

He's a nasty piece of work, Mogs. One can only hope that the young have figured out who he is.