I have been asked quite a few questions regarding this Bill over the past few days, so I thought I would put something to paper. Of course the Young Nats support measures that will increase youth employment, and make it easier for young people to get employed.
Based on the evidence I have seen, even if you factor in the recession, there has been a huge spike in youth unemployment since scrapping youth rates. As raising youth rates has only raised the average wage by forcing people into unemployment.
I support giving employers and employees the choice to negotiate wage levels. Employers are more likely to hire someone with more experience and seen to be more reliable (young people don’t often have the experience and suffer from being tarred as unreliable).
I worked on youth rates, but by the time I finished working I had been promoted to the same wage as my adult co-workers. Therefore to address the current crisis in the very short term the minimum wage for young people may need to be lowered. This would allow for more young people to be employed. As we come out of the recession the economy will lift the wages for all. The benefit from being employed will be that young employees will have gained valuable experience, which will put them in a much stronger position when it comes to negotiating their wages with their employer.
Daniel Fielding.
Tags: Daniel Fielding, Minimum Wage, Mitigation of Youth Unemployment, President's Thoughts
