Self-sufficiency is promoted by ensuring active participation in the economy and society by all members of a society. Two indicators are used to assess how well a country is facilitating self-sufficiency among its population: income of disabled people and jobless youth.
The jobless youth indicator measures the proportion of people aged 20—24 who are neither working nor attending school. It sheds light on whether the school-to-work transition is successful in a given country. This transition depends on the length and quality of the schooling received as well as on general labour market and economic conditions. For most people, being employed is the most important means of achieving self-sufficiency.
Most societies want their young people between the ages of 20 and 24 to be either in school or working. If they are neither, they are not acquiring the skills to ensure their future economic autonomy and social inclusion.
With 13 per cent of Canadian youth not in school or working, Canada rates a “B” on this indicator. This means a sizable proportion of young people have not made the transition from formal schooling to work as quickly or as seamlessly as possible. They are leaving school without the skills and experience needed to move into a career path that will ensure lifelong self-sufficiency. Compared with their peers, these youth are at greater risk of unemployment, poverty, and social exclusion throughout their lives.
Much policy discussion has centred on what to do about persistently high rates of youth unemployment. Two approaches have been adopted, in varying degrees, in OECD countries; one focuses on increasing participation in schooling, and the other on active labour market programs to help youth find jobs. In addition, programs in some countries target particular youth experiencing homelessness, drug abuse, or crime.
Canada devotes less than 0.3 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) to active labour market programs such as training and skill development, career information, and job search and placement supports. This amount trails 14 of its 16 peer countries. The link between spending and reductions in jobless youth, however, is not straightforward. Japan, the country with the lowest jobless youth rate, also has the lowest rate of spending on active labour market programs—0.16 per cent of GDP in 2007–08. In stark contrast, Denmark, the country with the second-lowest jobless youth rate, has the highest rate of spending—1.31 per cent of GDP.
Conference Board research also shows that Canada does not always do a good job of facilitating the school-to-work transition. In Canada, education is inadequately linked with the broader economy, thus leaving youth ill-prepared to find opportunities in the labour market.
The Conference Board suggests that Canadians need to be clear about the purposes of education. Appropriate resources should be allocated for different—and sometimes competing—purposes, such as preparing for university, developing employability skills, or embarking on a career path.
Canada also needs to redistribute and rebalance the risk involved in hiring young workers to make it more attractive for employers to invest in developing the untapped human capital of Canadian youth. And federal and provincial governments must coordinate their resources and activities to maximize youth employment and skills development.
Out of the Classroom, into the Workforce: Mining Youth Potential, Ottawa: The Conference Board of Canada, 2002.
An interesting “best practice” approach to the problem of jobless youth is Frontier College’s Beat the Street learning centre, a non-profit charitable organization that has been in operation since 1985. The centre offers at-risk, street-involved, and homeless youth in downtown Toronto the opportunity to acquire basic literacy skills, high school upgrading, and computer skills training in an accessible and non-threatening learning environment.
Frontier College’s Beat the Street Learning Centre, Case Study, Community-Based Learning Opportunities, Winner 2005, Ottawa: The Conference Board of Canada, 2005.
Conference Board research shows that Canadian youth face serious challenges when trying to break into the labour market:
- They may have educational qualifications but lack crucial work experience.
- They may be stressing their academic achievements at a time when, more than ever, employers are emphasizing appropriate workplace attitudes and behaviours.
- Canadian youth are staying in school longer, but they are not necessarily entering the labour market with the right mix of skills to succeed.
Employer demand for skilled tradespeople exceeds the available supply in Canada. Unlike some of its peer countries—Germany, for example—Canada does not have a tradition of developing skilled trades. The Canadian education system has tended to promote the acquisition of academic skills, which can be a challenge for youth who do not intend to pursue post-secondary education.
From an institutional perspective, skilled trades tend to be considered as an afterthought for those who lack the academic aptitude to pursue the normal course from high school through to post-secondary school. There is little in the mainstream system that encourages young people to pursue skilled trades after high school.
Solving the Skilled Trades Shortage, Ottawa: The Conference Board of Canada, 2002.
The proportion of jobless youth in Canada has declined since the mid-1980s—from 22.7 per cent in 1985 to 13 per cent in 2006.
The proportion of youth not in school or working has also dropped for most peer countries, except Germany. According to the OECD, the decline is largely due to young people spending more time in school than they have in past decades.