Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Members of the committee, it's a pleasure for me to be here with you today.
First, I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Simon Telles. I am a nonprofit lawyer, but I am here today as president of Force Jeunesse.
Force Jeunesse is a nonprofit organization made up of young volunteers from all walks of life. It is non-partisan and its mission is to advocate for young people's rights and interests, ensure intergenerational equity in public policy, and promote youth engagement and inclusion in decision-making.
We're here today primarily to talk to you about financial insecurity among youth. As the whole country is coping with a significant increase in the cost of living, we at Force Jeunesse have been looking at the impact of inflation on young people, who, as you will see, are a particularly vulnerable group due to a variety of factors.
Generally speaking, what we did was compare inflation data with data on changes in average wages. What we see very clearly is that Canadians' purchasing power has declined since last year. Over the past year, the inflation rate has been about 5.1%, while average wages have increased by only 3.4%. Therefore, wages in the general population have clearly not grown enough to offset the rising cost of living.
I'd like to draw your attention to the impact of this increase on 15‑ to 24‑year‑olds. In one year, wages for these young people actually decreased by 0.6%, so in addition to inflation, we must consider the fact that overall compensation for these young people has decreased, which places an even greater burden on them. Targeted measures are therefore needed to help this group of Canadians.
The situation is not much better with the unemployment rate, unfortunately. In the general population, the unemployment rate is about 5.5%, while it's twice that among 15‑ to 24‑year‑olds. In fact, the unemployment rate in this group is 10.9%, making them by far the age group with the highest unemployment rate.
Why have young people been hit harder by inflation and the current situation? It's because, according to Statistics Canada, half of them are employed part-time and 62.8% are in jobs considered to be non-standard. This has consequences on their job insecurity, in that the vast majority of young people can't collect employment insurance. For that, they must meet specific conditions. Significant assistance could be provided to young people, but that's not the case right now. Therefore, if the government wants to fight the effects of inflation on young people, it must reform the EI system to make it more accessible to them.
I'm talking about young people in the workforce, but obviously a lot of young people are in school and they are also being hit hard by inflation. So it's important that student grants be indexed for the rising cost of living as well. Special measures were taken during the pandemic. It's important to us that they be extended, once again so that the financial insecurity that young people in school are experiencing doesn't get any worse.
The impact of the crisis, if you will, or inflation, is also being felt in the labour market right now. One of our concerns is that the economic hardship resulting from the current situation is leading to the deterioration of working conditions for young people. One thing we're concerned about is orphan clauses. These clauses specifically target young people hired after more experienced workers, and they provide lower quality working conditions for them. Because clauses like these are more likely to crop up in situations like the one we are in now, we believe it's important that the government amend the Canada Labour Code to provide added protections for workers. Currently, employers can't offer two people a different wage for doing the same job. On the other hand, other working conditions could be modified and come to harm young people, which is a serious concern for us.
I've heard many other witnesses talk about the issue of housing and home ownership. I don't need to tell you that this concern affects young people especially, who are at the beginning of their lives and want to build a family and settle down. At the moment, they are unable to buy property. Even if they are renting, they now have to spend a very big chunk of their budget on housing. This puts a lot of pressure on young people, whose income is generally below the average salary because of the situation I've just described. Of course, one's wages are lower at the beginning of one's career, and young people have to deal with added pressures.
It's clear to us that the federal government has to increase the supply of social housing and create incentives in the private sector to get more housing built. In addition, the government needs to find ways to provide targeted financial support to households that need it most. In particular, we find that low-income households with no kids are currently falling between the cracks.
In closing, I absolutely cannot miss out on the opportunity to talk to you about climate change, which also has an impact on financial insecurity. We saw it in this country this year after various natural disasters disrupted the supply chains. If we want to reduce the overall consumer price index, inflation and youth insecurity, it's also important to continue our efforts to address climate change so we can mitigate its impact.
I will stop here. I look forward to answering your questions.