Good afternoon, Chair, and members of the committee. My name is Angelo DiCaro. I'm a national representative working in the research department of Unifor, Canada’s largest union in the private sector. Unifor represents 305,000 workers across Canada in nearly every sector of the economy.
We appreciate the opportunity to address this committee today on an issue which we fear if not taken seriously or dealt with meaningfully, will have lasting consequences for Canadians.
On the surface the issue is about youth unemployment. There are more than 382,000 young Canadians between 15 and 24 who fall into this category. Ostensibly, the solution to the problem is to get these 382,000 people into jobs. However, and as previous presenters have expressed to this committee, the more accurate and poignant analysis lies deeper beneath the standard reported unemployment numbers.
Youth unemployment in provinces like Ontario has actually fallen since the recession, yet youth employment-to-population rates sit at historic lows, a reflection of young people simply giving up and exiting the labour market altogether. The underemployment rate, which is captured monthly by Statistics Canada and includes not just the unemployed but discouraged workers and those who would rather work full time but can only find part-time jobs, is another metric that digs deeper into the youth labour market challenges, but it is very rarely reported. Currently one in five young Canadians are considered underemployed by this measure.
Equally as important to this committee’s analysis must be the foundational restructuring of Canada’s job market over the past generation and its impact on young Canadians. Of the 17 major economic sectors in Canada’s economy as measured by StatsCan, seven have turned out net job gains for young workers since 1976. Of those seven, which include sectors like construction, technical services, business services, and recreation, the two that have yielded the biggest job gains are retail and wholesale trade and hospitality. In fact, today half of all young workers in Canada are employed in either of these two sectors. One generation ago that number was far more modest, about one in four.
The average hourly wage for young workers in the retail and hospitality sectors is less than $12. That's the lowest in our entire economy.
As a result of this restructuring, more young workers today find themselves in low-wage jobs than they did a generation ago. This is a serious problem as the expenses many young people are expected to bear, including housing rent and tuition, continue to rise. Average student debt in Canada, for example, is $37,000.
Young workers are also far more likely to work in part-time and precarious jobs today than ever. A generation ago, 21% of young workers held a part-time job. Today, that number has jumped to 48%, and most of that jump is accounting for young workers between 20 and 34 years old. Yes, some of this has to do with young Canadians staying in school longer, but much of it has to do with the quality of jobs on offer.
There’s a prevailing myth that young workers favour part-time work. In fact, since 1997 there’s been a 33% jump among young workers who voluntarily work part-time. However, the number of young workers who are involuntarily working part-time, and who cite business conditions as the reason why they can’t find full-time work, has risen over that same time period by 231%. That is seven times faster than growth in voluntary part-time work.
Is it any wonder more than 150,000 young workers today hold more than one job. Is it any wonder that nearly 43% of all young people in Canada still live with their parents, and that's compared to 27% in 1981.
This unchecked restructuring of our economy has created a more vulnerable generation of workers with poorer labour market outcomes than generations past. To be clear, I am not saying more factory jobs will cure what ails our country’s youth unemployment crisis. I am also not saying young workers should steer clear of working in the retail and hospitality sectors.
What I am saying is that the eventual recommendations this committee makes to improve labour market outcomes for young workers have to consider these deeper structural challenges. Part of the policy prescription must tackle the worsening quality of existing jobs in tandem with any proposals designed to bring more jobs to market.
We understand the committee's objective is to explore solutions to improve youth employment outcomes in Canada. We invite the committee to consider the following policy prescriptions in light of the evidence we've provided above. There are three that I have.
One, establish a national multi-stakeholder retail and hospitality sector work standards and training council.
Less than 15% of workers in precarious forms of employment receive employer-paid training compared to almost 60% of workers in more secure forms of employment. There is currently no active multi-partner—
My five minutes are up?