Local support for Labour's youth employment policy

PROPOSAL: Labour leader Andrew Little released a policy to give unemployed young people six months of full-time community work at the minimum wage. PHOTO/FILE

Paid community work is a good and positive start to addressing youth employment issues in New Zealand, according to those who work with Rotorua youth.

On Sunday, Labour leader Andrew Little released a policy that would give unemployed young people six months of full-time community work at the minimum wage.

It would not be compulsory but there would be an expectation on young people to take part - and possible sanctions if they did not.

Expected to cost $60 million a year, it will provide unemployed people under the age of 24 with "jobs" in the community and will be for those who have been on the dole for at least six months.

Rotorua Youth Centre manager Steve Holmes said it sounded like a good idea, especially as young people were having difficulty finding work even with qualifications.

"The more experience they can get the better, and those opportunities could open other doors for them."

Mr Holmes said he thought the community work needed to relate to an actual job or be staircased into one.

He said there also needed to be support for employers, encouraging them to take on young people and give them a chance.

Rotorua Lakes councillor Tania Tapsell, who led the council's youth portfolio prior to the election, said she thought the proposal was a positive way to tackle youth unemployment and reduce dependency on welfare.

"I also really like the community service aspect of it. All young people should have this type of opportunity."

She said statistics showed the younger a person was when they entered the welfare system, the longer they were likely to stay in it.

"So any policy that supports young people to enter the workforce is good for youth and good for the country."

It was important the community work matched what the young person had an interest in or passion for, she said.

She said it would also be beneficial if it taught skills the youth could then transfer into key industries within their regions to increase their chances of permanent employment afterwards.

"I particularly like the way this proposal sees many different people working together for mutual outcomes.

"Employers should also be supported to take on younger or less experienced workers."

Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick added: "We don't want our young people to be on the benefit - we need them to be in active training, activity or learning so that they gain work and life skills that will help them later."

She said finding solutions for young people not in employment or skills training was something mayors had been grappling with through the Mayors Taskforce for Jobs.

"Part of the solution is bringing information and services that already exist together for a collaborative, effective, whole-of-community commitment to young people."