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January 19, 1999
Canadian teens left out of economic recovery, report finds
OTTAWA – Corporate downsizing, government restructuring and new technologies are making it harder for young Canadians to find employment, according to a new study released today by the Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD).
Youth at Work in Canada surveys the employment situation of Canadian teens between the ages of 15 and 19. It charts teens' employment rates and wages over the last two decades and examines the effects of employment on their school performance and
lifestyles. The report is published as a companion to The Progress of Canada's Children 1998 - Focus on Youth, which was released in December 1998 by the CCSD.
Youth at Work in Canada shows that the employment prospects of Canadian teens are closely linked to the business cycle and structural changes in the economy. Many low-skilled and manual jobs – those often performed by teens – are being replaced by jobs that require advanced technical skills. The result has been a growing number of teens who have never had paid work experience.
"Increasingly, teens are being denied the opportunity to acquire job skills, to earn their own spending money, or to earn funds for their post-secondary studies," said Dr. Jean Kunz, a research associate at the CCSD and co-author of the report.
Teens from middle- and higher-income families, or teens with self-employed parents, are more likely to find work than teens from lower-income households, the report states. Teenage immigrants and teens living in the Atlantic provinces have the hardest time finding work.
"On the positive side, volunteer rates among teens and young adults have increased dramatically over the last 10 years, providing many teens with job-like experience," added Dr. Kunz.
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Youth at Work in Canada - Related Material
Canadian Council on Social Development,
309 Cooper Street, 5th Floor,
Ottawa, Ontario, K2P 0G5
Tel: (613) 236-8977, Fax: (613) 236-2750, Web: www.ccsd.ca, Email: council@ccsd.ca
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