Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Opinion: Rowan Light: Catching the tide for 'the lockdown generation'

By Dr Rowan Light
Rotorua Daily Post·
15 Sep, 2020 11:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Dr Rowan Light. Photo / File

Dr Rowan Light. Photo / File

COMMENT:

As the Covid-19 pandemic grinds on, we must attend to the needs of our young people, our taiohi.

"Taiohi" in te reo Māori comes from the term "tai", referring, in one sense, to the turning of the tide.

This meaning captures the ways in which young people are defined by change: a process of "becoming" full members of their community and society through new experiences, relationships, further education and steady employment.

What happens when young people "miss the tide" and lose these transitions to adulthood?

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

School-to-work pathways have become increasingly fragmented over the last few generations and young people face more temporary, limited and precarious work than ever before. Covid-19 is wreaking havoc with these opportunities even further.

The UN's International Labour Organisation warns of a "lockdown generation" currently experiencing a "triple shock" – the virus destroying employment prospects, disrupting education and training, and putting obstacles in the way of taiohi.

The impact – and costs – of this fragmenting world of work is evident in New Zealand's persistent rate of young people not in employment, education, or training (NEET). Our youth NEET rate sat at around 69,000 young people towards the end of 2019.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Māori and Pasifika communities are over-represented in our NEET rate.

Most concerning is increasing numbers of "long-term" NEETs, those stuck in patterns of NEET for six months or longer – around 10 per cent of this total. Data from the June 2020 quarter suggests we're already starting to see a spike in these statistics, one that is likely to get worse before it gets better.

Disengagement from work can wreak economic, social, and personal devastation.

Economically, youth NEET lose productivity and earnings overtime. Socially, they also lose workplaces to build relationships that are crucial to future employment.

"Work readiness" isn't just about the scripts and skills of a workplace; it's the myriad unspoken habits and attitudes we absorb as an employee, which you can't get from Zoom meetings.

This has personal implications: NEET disengagement becomes a vicious cycle of failure and social stigma. Policies aimed at "booting lazy youth off the couch" might make for good populist rhetoric, but it doesn't actually get at the complexity of the lived experience of our taiohi who face these compounding challenges.

Willpower is not enough in this policy space, as University of Pennsylvania professor of psychology Tess Wilkinson-Ryan points out.

Instead, our first response has to be to take on the challenge of helping those who are disengaged from employment as a responsibility for all New Zealanders. Solutions require an intergenerational approach to the "world of work" our young people must enter; drawing together whānau and the other "moving parts" of a young person's life, such as educators, agencies, and employers.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Catching the tide" means, on the one hand, seeing young people at a crucial stage of their life when they need support, not opprobrium.

On the other, it also means the challenges of 2020 and the Covid-19 pandemic are an opportunity to look afresh at the needs of young New Zealanders, and craft policy and act decisively for their future.

Rowan Light is a researcher for independent research and public policy think tank the Maxim Institute.

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua Daily Post

Caught on tape: Identity finally revealed of Jaguar-driving teen behind CBD rampage

06 Jul 06:00 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

'He's just scared of me': Teen's Māori wards challenge to PM

06 Jul 03:55 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

'Safety risks': Concerns as hospital security guards double as cleaners

05 Jul 10:45 PM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Caught on tape: Identity finally revealed of Jaguar-driving teen behind CBD rampage

Caught on tape: Identity finally revealed of Jaguar-driving teen behind CBD rampage

06 Jul 06:00 AM

Police and footpath pedestrians had to dodge the vehicle to avoid getting run over.

'He's just scared of me': Teen's Māori wards challenge to PM

'He's just scared of me': Teen's Māori wards challenge to PM

06 Jul 03:55 AM
'Safety risks': Concerns as hospital security guards double as cleaners

'Safety risks': Concerns as hospital security guards double as cleaners

05 Jul 10:45 PM
Bid for inquiry into Ōhinemutu sewage spills fails

Bid for inquiry into Ōhinemutu sewage spills fails

05 Jul 06:00 PM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP