How Young People are Faring (HYPAF) is the pre-eminent national report on the learning and work situation of young Australians. It's been written by t he Foundation for Young Australians (FYA), and reveals that young people continue to feel the negative impacts of the global financial crisis, despite Australia’s economic recovery overall.
Here are some highlights of the report which shows that:
· for 15 to 19 year-old males, the level of ‘disengagement’ rose from 15.3% to 16% in 2010;
· the unemployment rate for teenage males not in full-time education rose from 18.2% in 2009 to 18.8% in 2010, this compares with the current adult unemployment rate of just 5%;
· the number of teenagers starting apprenticeships and traineeships dropped by more than 15,000 between 2008 and 2009, with two thirds of these being in male-dominated trade occupations;
· the teenage unemployment rate fell slightly from 18.5% in 2009 to 17.9% in 2010, but remains well above the 12.2% level seen before the financial crisis in 2008;
· almost one quarter of 20 to 24 year-olds are not engaged in full-time work or full-time education in 2010, a slight improvement over the situation in the previous year.
Dr Lucas Walsh, Director of Research at FYA, said, “This report tells us that while Australia leads the global economic recovery, there remain far too many young Australians who don’t reap the rewards of education or employment. It can take 15 years for the teenage unemployment rate to recover from a recession, so urgent action is needed to make sure young people benefit from our current economic growth.”
“T eenage males have been hit particularly hard by the ongoing affects of the financial crisis , with a spike in unemployment and a drop in a pprenticeships,” Dr Walsh said.
A copy of the 2010 report is available for download at www.fya.org.au
