Search

  • In

Labour Party announces Youth Employment Policy

» 02/09/2011, Posted by Site Admin

The Labour Party has announced plans to turn unemployment payments into apprenticeship subsidies to tackle youth unemployment rates. The $251 million package aims to have the 24,000 currently unemployed teenagers either earning or learning within three years.

The four-year plan follows youth from school into education or the workforce. It suggests converting dole payments into an $8,700 subsidy to fund 9,000 apprenticeship placements.

The package also suggests introducing 5,000 new training places for 16 and 17 year olds and 1000 new group and shared apprenticeships.

Mentors would be set up for at-risk school leavers, so they could be encouraged into a job or employment opportunities.

Labour says it will build on proven programmes such as Gateway, the youth transition service, tertiary high schools and trades academies, and the Conservation Corps.

Mr Goff said the four-year package would be paid for from revenue from Labour's proposed tax plan. 'However we will reprioritise $80 million from existing schemes, with $58 million going to the apprenticeship subsidy instead of dole payments, giving a net total cost of $171 million over four years.' He called for action on youth unemployment before the problem increased.

A background paper on Labour's Youth Employment Package is attached.

Early media discussion about the youth employment package can be heard in the attached audio file from Radio NZ's 'Morning Report'.