• Anne Walstab, Stephen Lamb, Lyn Robinson
• Foundation for Young Australians

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Report cover: How young people are faring 2010

24 November 2010Despite Australia’s overall economic recovery, this report finds that young people continue to feel the negative impacts of the global financial crisis.

How Young People are Faring 2010 (HYPAF), is an annual report on the learning-and-earning situation of young Australians.

The 2010 report shows that the number of teenagers not in full-time education or work remains as high now as it was in 2009, when unemployment spiked as a result of the global economic downturn. The proportion of teenagers ‘disengaged’ from work or education has stayed at 16.4%, which means that: 246,000 teenagers are currently not in full-time education or work.

The report also shows that:

* For 15 to 19 year-old males, the level of ‘disengagement’ rose from 15.3% to 16%

* The unemployment rate for teenage males not in full-time education rose from 18.2% to 18.8%, compared to the current adult unemployment rate of just 5%

* The number of teenagers starting apprenticeships and traineeships dropped by more than 15,000 between 2008 and 2009, with two thirds of these lost opportunities occurring in male-dominated trade occupations

* The teenage unemployment rate fell slightly from 18.5% to 17.9%, but remains well above the 12.2% unemployment level seen before the financial crisis in 2008

* Almost one quarter of 20 to 24 year-olds are not engaged in full-time work or full-time education in 2010, a slight improvement over the situation in the previous year.