Labour says there will be sufficient jobs or training opportunities for 24,000 under-20 year-olds not currently in employment, education or training by the end of its first term in government if it wins the November 26 election.
Announcing the NZ$251 million package in Upper Hutt today, leader Phil Goff said a Labour government would put more resources into schools to help with skills development, and change the way the dole was paid to under-20s to try and get them into apprenticeships and training.
“Everyone knows that our youth unemployment rate is far too high – our young people represent more of our total unemployment numbers than in any other OECD country,” Goff said.
“This is a ticking time-bomb and has to be fixed. These kids are our future but at the moment they are being left on the scrapheap. If we don’t do something now, we will all pay a far higher price. The New Zealand Institute estimates the cost of disengaged youth is NZ$900 million a year,” he said.
Labour said it would put more resources into schools to help skills development for students, while spending NZ$24 million on a ‘Youth Transitions’ network “to ensure every school leaver has a plan for further training education or work”.
Labour would then alter how dole payments were made to under-20 year-olds in an NZ$87 million package it said would get 9,000 off the dole by transferring dole payments to employers for apprenticeship payments.
The payments would most likely be organised and made through Work and Income New Zealand.
Another NZ$80 million would be earmarked for 5,000 additional training places for 16 and 17 year olds in institutions like polytechs.
All up the policy would cost NZ$251 million over four years, Goff said. NZ$80 million of this would be taken from existing programmes, leaving NZ$171 million which would be found through Labour’s recently announced tax package.
More soon.
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