Govt boosts funds for subsidised youth jobs

Almost 3000 young people have flocked into the subsidised job schemes Job Ops and Community Max, bringing down youth unemployment sharply since September.

The Government said yesterday that it would fund an extra 2000 Job Ops places, on top of its original funding announced in August for 4000 places on Job Ops and 3000 on Community Max up to the end of next year.

Social Development Minister Paula Bennett said the two schemes had helped cut the number of people under 25 on unemployment benefits by 1000, from a September peak of 19,836 to 18,837 last week. But the figures show that about two-thirds of all unemployed young people, last measured by Statistics New Zealand at 62,700 in September, are not on either of the work schemes or on benefits. Many are below the qualifying age for the dole of 18.

Ms Bennett conceded yesterday that the numbers on the dole would almost certainly rise again over summer as students finish classes and start looking for fulltime work. She also announced yesterday a $1 million marketing boost for Student Job Search, which is struggling with an increase in student registrations from 100,000 at this time last year to 160,000 this week.

The $1 million has been "reprioritised" from other spending.

Most ($6.9 million) of the $8.9 million cost of the extra 2000 Job Ops places is new funding, with the rest being what it would have cost to pay the dole to those 2000 young people.

Job Ops pays a $5000 subsidy to any employer who employs a young person for six months.

Community Max pays non-profit groups the full cost of paying a young person the minimum wage for 30 hours a week for six months.

Meanwhile, Education Minister Anne Tolley yesterday named 12 of the country's 20 polytechnics to share an $8 million funding boost also announced in the August youth package. The biggest sums of $1.2 million each go to Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec), Eastern Institute of Technology in Napier and Otago Polytechnic.

Unitec, Manukau Institute of Technology and Bay of Plenty Polytechnic each get $600,000.

All three also won a share of 2000 extra places nationally under the "youth guarantee" scheme for 16 and 17-year-olds, targeted at areas with the highest youth unemployment.

Whangarei-based NorthTec and Rotorua's Waiariki Institute of Technology also gained youth guarantee funding, but both have missed out on the extra $8 million.

Tertiary Education Commission investment director David Nicholson said the money was allocated to institutes with high numbers of students under 25 and at higher levels of training.

NorthTec head Terry Barnett said NorthTec had been ordered to cut its level 1 to 3 enrolments.

"Much of the youth demand in the north is at this level," he said.

Waiariki head Pim Borren said: "It's frustrating because many of our students don't have any qualifications coming out of high school so we are teaching at levels 1 to 3."

YOUNG AND JOBLESS

YOUTH UNEMPLOYED
(STATISTICS NZ)
Sept 200842,100

Sept 200962,700

YOUTH ON DOLE
(WINZ)
Sept 20085772

Sept 200919,836

Nov 20, 200918,837

YOUTH ON JOB OPS

Nov 20, 2009 1897

YOUTH ON COMMUNITY MAX

Nov 20, 2009 981