Alan France Sociol231 sociology of youth policy Lecture Nine

1. Youth Employment, precarious jobs and
social policy initiatives
ALAN FRANCE
SOCIOL231 SOCIOLOGY OF YOUTH POLICY
LECTURE NINE

2.  http://www.arts.auckland.ac.nz/en/about/events/2017/04/new-era-for-child-and-
youth-welfare.html
 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11832974

3. A Global Picture of Work
• Youth in paid work
• Growth of part time work
• Growth of temporary work
• None Standard verse standard work
• What is happening in
• New Zealand
• Australia
• UK
• Other countries

4. Youth and the labour market in New Zealand
Working-age population of 638,600 15 to 24 years in New Zealand
Employment participation rate has been declining in New Zealand for young people
• 15 – 19 year olds – 45% (2008) 32% (2012) up to 36% (2015)
• 20 -24 year olds – 68% (2008) 64% (2012) and returned to 68% (2015)
Comparison to older workers – young people less likely to be in employment (see chart) and greater impact through
the GFC
The employment pattern of youth does differ from that of older workers as significantly more people aged 15 to 24
years work part-time, often around their tertiary studies. Also given our discussion on youth unemployment we should
not be surprised
By ethnicity (not by age)
• NZ European employment rate 67% (2008) 65% (2012) 67% (2015)
• Maori employment rate started 62% (2008) 56% (2012) 57% (2015)
• Pacific Peoples employment rate 60% (2008) 50% (2012) 56% (2015)

5. The growth of Jobs for the young: The
service sector in New Zealand
• The sectors employing the most people are retail trade, health and professional
services – these three sectors employ 27% of all workers.
• Sectors adding the most jobs in the ten years 2002-2012 were health,
professional services and construction – a total of 153,000, or 46% of all
additional jobs (390,000 in total)
• Petroleum and minerals, utilities and property, rental and hiring services have the
highest labour productivity.
• The majority of workers are employed in labour intensive, lower labour
productivity sectors such as accommodation and restaurants, retail trade,
administration and construction. But all sectors have high performing and low
performing firms.

6. Youth Employment by Industry 2012 in New Zealand
March 2012 Youth Employment by Industry in New Zealand
16 – 24 year olds
Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing 21,700
Mining, Electricity, Gas, Water & Waste Services 1,900
Manufacturing 31,500
Construction 26,200
Wholesale Trade 10,900
Retail Trade 59,100
Accommodation and Food Services 49,800
Transport, Postal and Warehousing 9,100
Information Media & Telecommunications 6,500
Financial & Insurance Services 6,600
Rental, Hiring & Real Estate Services 3,500
Professional, Scientific & Technical Services 14,900
Administrative & Support Services 10,400
Public Administration & Safety 9,000
Education & Training 17,300
Health Care & Social Assistance 16,700
Arts & Recreation Services 8,900
Other Services 14,000
Total Employed (including Not Specified) 318,000

7. Youth employment occupations 2012 in New
Zealand
Youth employment by occupation March 2012 16 – 14
year olds
Managers 22,600
Professionals 31,600
Technicians & trades workers 43,300
Community & personal service workers 49,500
Clerical & administrative workers 29,500
Sales workers 63,900
Machinery operators & drivers 16,100
Labourers 61,800
Total Employed 318,400

8. Figure 5. Māori employment by occupation,
December 2015
Industry
% share to total employment
Māori
Total All
Ethnic Groups
Managers 10.40% 16.30%
Professionals 16.90% 23.50%
Technicians and Trades 13.00% 13.00%
Service 11.60% 9.10%
Clerks 11.40% 12.40%
Sales 8.70% 9.70%
Plant 9.90% 5.70%
Labourers 18.10% 10.30%

9. The UK labour market
Young people are overwhelmingly represented in sales (such as retail assistants) and
elementary occupations (such as waiters and bar staff). These account for 45% of young
people in employment compared to just 16% for those aged 25 and over. (UKCES, 2012
The Youth Employment Challenge, p8
‘…the Youth Inquiry found evidence of underemployment both in terms of hours worked
and utilisation of skills. The share of those in work who want more hours in their current
job, want an additional job or want to move to another job. Over the course of the
recession and recovery this has worsened for all age groups but particularly for the
young. Almost a third of 16-17 year olds and over a quarter of 18-24 year olds in work
want more hours, another job or an additional job.’(UKCES, 2012 The Youth
Employment Challenge, p9)

10. Australia
• Massive increase of casualisation of youth employment - which is concentrated in service
sector
• 65% of all young people (not in education) aged 15 – 19 are working on casual contracts –
compared to 38% of 20 -24 year olds. In 2001 it was 45% of 15 – 19 year olds and 32% of 20
– 24%
• Part-time work is also common with 54% of 15 – 19 year olds working part-time and 20% of
20 – 24 year olds – compared to 7% of 25 – 29 year olds.
• A significant gender gap also exists 72% of all young women working 15 – 19 are on part-
time contracts (compared to 31% of 20 -24 year olds and 14% of 25 – 29 year olds)
• Growth of underemployment
• Since May 2014 152,000 new full time jobs created but 329,000 part time jobs
• 20% of 15 – 24 year old young women underemployed and 16% of young men 16%
• Fastest growing levels ever

11. Australia and underemployment

12. Precarious work?
• Are we seeing a move to precarious working for the young?
• The shift towards flexibility and the move towards flexicurity
• The growth of ‘Internships’ – the ‘third degree’
• The growth of ‘Zero Hour’ contracts
• The ‘entrepreneurial spirit’ and the growth of self employment
• The emergence of the ‘gig economy’

13. NeoLiberal reform in Australia and New Zealand
‘The Liberals [in Australia] were looking to increase national economic performance, and, following standard neo-liberal philosophy, they
firmly believed that a more flexible and active labour market was necessary to achieve this. The Workplace Relations Amendment Act
2005, popularly known as Work Choices, saw further deregulation of the wage structure and the removal of employment laws relating
to unfair dismissals. Critics maintained that the laws stripped away the basic rights of employees and were fundamentally unfair.
Certainly, the principal thrust of the Work Choices legislation was to individualize employment relations, with the effect of marginalizing
trade unions and industrial’ tribunals Deeming, Social Policy and Administration 2013 p673 - 674
‘New Zealand's fourth Labour government embarked upon a more radical labour-market reform aimed at removing the influence of the
unions in the pay bargaining process. The Labour Relations Act (1987), for example, liberalized the labour market and the State Sector
Act (1988) extended these reforms to the public sector.’ Deeming, 2013 p672
‘The most significant change to labour market regulation came with the introduction of the Employment Contracts Act in 1991, which
decentralised the employer-employee bargaining process. While laying down mandatory minimum holiday entitlements, equal pay
requirements for males and females and a statutory minimum wage, all other matters concerning pay and conditions were subject to
negotiations’ Stillman, Velamuri and Aitken 2008
http://www.mbie.govt.nz/info-services/employment-skills/legislation-reviews/amendments-to-the-employment-relations-act-2000/law-
changes-to-collective-bargaining 2014 in changes in Labour Law in New Zealand – what do you think?

14. Internships in Australia
 https://theconversation.com/will-the-internships-program-help-young-people-get-
jobs-58397
The government wants to give A$840.3 million to a new program named Youth Jobs PaTH
(Prepare, Trial, Hire). The aim is to get 120,000 people aged 17 to 24 who are currently on
income support into jobs.
A core part of the scheme is to place as many as 30,000 young people each year in a
voluntary four-to-12-week internship program. This will require completing six weeks of
training and working 15 to 25 hours per week. Interns will earn an extra $200 each
fortnight in addition to their existing income support.
Businesses providing the internships will receive a $1,000 bonus, as well as a potential
additional Youth Bonus wage subsidy of between $6,500 and $10,000.

15. Zero Hours contracts
• Contracts that are set at ‘Zero’ – no obligation to pay a person on these contracts
unless they have work – employees get paid when needed only
• In the UK these types of contracts doubled in 2014 to over 800,000 and the 16 – 24
year olds account for 38% of this workforce
• Over 47% of companies with over 250 staff are using these types of contracts not
only in private sector but also public i.e. health and universities
• http://www.mbie.govt.nz/info-services/employment-skills/legislation-
reviews/employment-standards-legislation-bill/addressing-zero-hour-contracts New
Zealand legislation

16. ‘In a number of countries and sectors, bogus self-employment (when an
independent worker is contracted to provide services to a single client or work
provider in much the same way as if they were an employee) is widespread.
This practice is used by employers as a means of reducing the costs of
employment by lowering the social contributions payable and avoiding the
costs imposed by employment protection legislation’. (Eurofound, 2013 p1)

17. The ‘gig economy’ Dokko, J., Mumford, D. and Whitmore
Schanzenbach, D. (2015) Workers and the gig economy
2015 p1 and 2
Consumers and workers alike now use online technology and
apps to contract for specific, on-demand services such as
cleaning, handiwork, shopping, cooking, driving, and
landscaping. These developments constitute what has been
referred to as the “online gig” or “on demand” economy, where
work is taking place in a series of one-off gigs, rather than in an
ongoing relationship with a single employer.

18. The ‘gig economy’ pro’s and con’s Dokko, J., Mumford, D.
and Whitmore Schanzenbach, D. (2015) Workers and the
gig economy 2015 p1 and 2
‘…these on-demand gigs benefit both workers and the economy, and help to support job growth
and household incomes in the post–Great Recession labor market recovery. Such gigs often
feature flexible hours, low or no training costs, and generally few barriers to worker entry. These
features have enabled gig-economy workers, including those with other jobs, to generate new
income or to supplement their primary incomes during difficult times in a strained job market.
‘…other aspects of the gig economy have raised some concerns. First, these jobs generally
confer few employer-provided benefits and workplace protections. This stands in contrast to
traditional employer–employee relationships that often come with manifold assurances and
protections, such as overtime compensation, minimum wage protections, health insurance,
disability insurance, unemployment insurance, maternity and paternity leave, employer-
sponsored retirement plans, workers’ compensation for injuries, paid sick leave, and the ability to
engage in collective action. ‘

19. New Zealand and self employment
Self-employment and the economy of ‘small enterprises’
• New Zealand has always had a strong self-employment/ independent contract environment – where small businesses are seen as
critical to job creation. (OECD see New Zealand as one of the best places in the world to start a small business)
• It has created a well-established small business culture and practice which has a strong franchise and subcontracting culture with
large numbers of independent contractors, especially in the building and agricultural industries. For example, over 440 Franchising
systems in New Zealand with over 22,000 business – with $20 billion and contributes approximately 11% towards GDP – over
100,000 people employed in them – includes NZ Post, Lotto, Coffee Club, Paper Plus….part of our culture.
• In fact New Zealand has a large ‘small enterprise practice’, it has over 550,000 ‘small enterprises’ which have since 2007 increased
by 10%
• Of all small enterprises - 66% are single person operated – not employing anyone else
• In fact 84% of all new enterprises being created are single person operated
• 20% of all people working are working as self employed
 Thank you!
 Marcelo Gomes Freire