Advertisement
Canada markets closed
  • S&P/TSX

    21,837.18
    -11.97 (-0.05%)
     
  • S&P 500

    5,149.42
    +32.33 (+0.63%)
     
  • DOW

    38,790.43
    +75.66 (+0.20%)
     
  • CAD/USD

    0.7385
    -0.0004 (-0.05%)
     
  • CRUDE OIL

    82.60
    -0.12 (-0.15%)
     
  • Bitcoin CAD

    88,299.98
    -3,723.10 (-4.05%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • GOLD FUTURES

    2,164.60
    +0.30 (+0.01%)
     
  • RUSSELL 2000

    2,024.74
    -14.59 (-0.72%)
     
  • 10-Yr Bond

    4.3400
    +0.0360 (+0.84%)
     
  • NASDAQ futures

    18,188.75
    -42.75 (-0.23%)
     
  • VOLATILITY

    14.33
    -0.08 (-0.56%)
     
  • FTSE

    7,722.55
    -4.87 (-0.06%)
     
  • NIKKEI 225

    39,596.29
    -144.15 (-0.36%)
     
  • CAD/EUR

    0.6789
    -0.0003 (-0.04%)
     

Youth job security plunging, unemployment remaining steady since 1976, says sweeping new Statscan report

A report published by Statistics Canada said full-time work is decreasing for young labourers. Photo from Getty Images.
A report published by Statistics Canada said full-time work is decreasing for young labourers. Photo from Getty Images.

A new study from Statistics Canada said over the last four decades, young people have seen their job quality decline, even as the unemployment rate remains virtually unchanged since the 1970s.

In a report released this week, the national statistics office said the unemployment rate in both 1976 and 2015 is about 2.3 times higher for 15 to 24-year-olds than workers aged 25 and older.

Though the rate itself remains relatively steady, Statistics Canada said that the real issue is wages have failed to keep up with the cost living. From the early 1980s to the early 1990s, full-time male employees aged 17 to 24 saw their hourly wages drop by roughly 15 per cent, while women in the same age group experienced a 10 per cent decline.

ADVERTISEMENT

Since then, average pay rates have not increased despite inflation and a rise in living costs. According to the report, the surge of part-time and temporary work is the driving force behind the salary stagnation.

“My research over the past 25 years has documented a continuing decline in full-time employment and growth in both part-time involuntary employment and also increasing underemployment,” D.W. Livingstone, a professor emeritus from the University of Toronto’s Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, said in an email to Yahoo Canada News.

That means more young people desperate for work are settling for part-time jobs or taking positions out-of-step with their specialized degrees and diplomas, according to the former Canada Research Chair in Lifelong Learning and Work.

Average pay rates have not increased, despite the rise in the cost of living. Photo from Getty Images.
Average pay rates have not increased, despite the rise in the cost of living. Photo from Getty Images.

“Underemployment may now be greater in Canada, especially among the young,” said Livingstone. “Both involuntary part-time and underemployment represent large wastes of talent.”

Emily Norgang, senior researcher at the Ottawa-based Canadian Labour Congress, recently authored a paper with similar findings to Statistics Canada.

The report, Diverse, Engaged, and Precariously Employed: An In-Depth Look at Young Workers in Canada, documents the shift from permanent employment to precarious work, which is usually characterized by undefined schedules, such as casual, call-in, or part-time work. Low wages, unpaid internships, contract or temporary work are also characteristics of unsteady employment.

Norgang’s report also noted the total amount of debt carried by young Canadians under 35 reached over $300 million in 2015, double that of the same cohort in 1999.

“This generation of Canadians are highly educated, highly adaptable, and very hard working, but feel that the current job market is failing them,” she said.

Though the numbers can be a concerning, Norgang argued that this information doesn’t necessarily indicate a troubling future for young people in the workplace. She sees the information as an opportunity for this generation.

“Young people are resilient,” she said. “They’re adaptable, active and engaged.”

Citing grassroots movements like The Fight for $15 and Fairness, Norgang said underemployed youth are starting to understand their place in the economy and instead of remaining passive, they’re choosing change.

“They recognize the bleak picture Statistics Canada has painted for them, but they’re choosing to do something about it,” she said. “We have to think holistically about the job market and young people want to contribute.”

Armed with the numbers, she said, young people can start shaping the future of the job market.

“Young workers can actually use this information to harvest new opportunities in the job market to influence the country’s future economy in a sustainable way,” Norgang said.