Frozen out: Young people and the public sector

Canadian youth are among the overlooked victims of privatization. The chaos privatization creates for many Canadians hits those under 30 particularly hard. Public sector downsizing is eroding services and jobs, denying a generation of young people the economic and social security they should be able to count on. This has serious implications for the future of public services and for the health of Canada’s economy in the years to come.

Uncertainty is the overwhelming theme in young people’s lives today. Nowhere is this more clear than when it comes to looking for a job. Since 1989 the proportion of youth aged 15-24 participating in the workforce has dropped from 71 per cent to 62 per cent. Between 1979 and 1999 the number of employed youth dropped by 327,600 — with the majority of the jobs disappearing from the public sector. In these two decades, the number of young public sector workers dropped by 46.4 per cent. Public sector cutbacks mean there are few — if any — decent, secure jobs for youth.

As governments are contracting out and privatizing jobs, manufacturing industries are heading elsewhere for cheaper labour. What work remains in Canada for youth tends to be insecure, low-wage, part-time service sector work with few if any benefits and no union protection. Young workers in the private sector don’t benefit from legislation designed to remedy inequality, such as pay equity and employment equity. These workers also find themselves in workplaces rife with health and safety hazards. Jobs that once were considered temporary ‘student’ jobs are fast becoming a career path for young people.

With an official youth unemployment rate at 15 per cent and the actual rate pushing 25 per cent, young people have little choice but to turn to the private sector for jobs. Between 1992 and 1999, 136,000 young people joined the ranks of private sector workers. The number of young people working in the public sector dropped by 114,300.