HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1983-04-06, Page 36.. BY JACK RIDDELL,
• 1VIPP.
' Jobs For Youth - Part I
On June 16, the Liberal
Task Force on Jobs for
Youth issued its interim
report. An update o'n the
situation was released this
week which includes a
summary of recom-
mendations made by the
task force.
As the introduction to the
update points out, the
problems highlighted in the
interim report were just as
pressing as the task force
suggested, and deserving of
far more attention than they
.have received. While the
government of Ontario has
acted on a number of the
Liberal recommendations
with regard to secondary
education - notably in-
creasing the number of
compulsory courses the
response with regard to job
creation and training
initiatives has been dismal.
The employment prospects
for young people in Ontario
have deteriorated markedly
since the provincial budget
last May.
When the Liberal Task
Force Report was released
in June, it noted that
unemployment among those
aged 15 to 24 was at 16.4 per
cent, equal to 186,000 young
people. By February 1983 the
numbers had increased
further to 20.4 per cent and
211,000 persons. The
unemployment rate for those
24 and under is more than
twice as high as the rate for
those over this age. The
situation is even more
drastic for those in the
hardest hit category, males
between 15 and 19. Only nine
months ago, the Liberal
report warned that one out of
every five members of this
group was unemployed;
today the figure is more than
one out of every four.
It is not only inequitable
that young people bear a
disproportionate share of the
burden of recession and of
structural changes in the
economy, it is contrary to the
best interests of our society.
We cannot hope to build for
the future if we ignore the
needs today of those who will
be expected to fill vital roles
tomorrow. While the
government does not have
sole responsibility in this
regard, it is clearly the key
actor.
The Liberal Update looks
at what has been done and
what remains to be done in
five areas: job creation
programs for youth; student
aid; manpower training and
apprenticeship programs;
opportunities for co-
operative students; and job
availability for graduates. In
each of those areas there
exists a need for new com-
mitments, by government,
the private sector and the
educational institutions if the
young people of Ontario are
to receive the treatment they
deserve.
Temporary Job
Creation.Programs
When criticized on their
record of youth job creation,
government representatives
generally make two
responses: the government
has developed new programs
and increased funding to
deal with the growing
problem; and the govern-
ment alone cannot do all that
is. needed. The latter
response ignores the fact
that the government con-
tributes only a small portion
of the jobs for young people
in the province. While
government records show
that it will "create" about
93,000 jobs for young people
in 1982-83, in fact the
majority of the cost of these
jobs will be borne by the
private sector.
Consider for example the
Ontario Youth Employment
Program .:. an annual
summer initiative which the
government says created
57,000 jobs this year at a cost
to the taxpayer of $30.4
million ... the number of jobs
directly attributable to the
government expenditure is
not 57,00() but something
more like 22,000.
Moreover, the government
Ms been decreasing its own
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