Skip to content

Canada short-changing its young workers

Canadians in the 18 to 29 age group are not particularly impressed by the performance of the Harper government.According to the Mood of Canada survey conducted by pollster Nik Nanos, some 30 per cent of this age group rate the government’s performance “ poor” or “very poor” while another 29.7 per cent rate it just “average.”
RichardsHarleyMugMay23jer
Array

Canadians in the 18 to 29 age group are not particularly impressed by the performance of the Harper government.

According to the Mood of Canada survey conducted by pollster Nik Nanos, some 30 per cent of this age group rate the government’s performance “ poor” or “very poor” while another 29.7 per cent rate it just “average.”

For all the cheerleading about Canada being on the right track, it’s easy to see why younger Canadians are not particularly enthused about the government’s performance. Too many of them are having a tough time getting full-time regular jobs and embarking on careers that will set them on the course for a decent adult life.

Instead, for many of them, their work world is one of two-tier wage systems with much reduced wages for entry-level (i.e. younger) workers, or contract jobs with no benefits or assurance of a job when the contract expires. Too often contract jobs can be a form of exploitation because workers with contracts may feel pressure to work long hours for no extra pay in the hope of getting a regular job by doing everything the employer demands of them.

Under the growing two-tier wage system, younger workers are paid much less than existing workers, with fewer benefits, creating a workplace where workers are all doing the same work, but some are being paid twice as much as others — a far cry from equal pay for equal work. And with very few exceptions, corporations have eliminated defined benefit pension plans for new employees.

Other young people are being forced to become interns — a 21st century form of feudalism or slave labour — where they work for no pay in the hope of a token payment at the end of their internship.

All of this is part of a pattern by corporations — and governments — to minimize labour costs, except for those at the top whose compensation levels have far outpaced the performance of the economy.

Today the gap between the compensation of those at the top and the average worker is at a record level. But it is the youngest generation of workers that is feeling this gap the most.

Surely Canada can do better for its young people than this.

The present course means more young adults living at home, delaying starting a family and unable to start saving for their own homes. Instead, too many are unemployed or underemployed while burdened with student debt that must be repaid.

Canadians were promised that with free trade and globalization we would not see a race to the bottom in salaries and wages. But in fact that is what we are seeing.

Young people were promised that if they persevered and achieved a university or college education, they would have a good shot at a good job. This promise was used to justify year-after-year increases in tuition fees that far exceeded inflation rates.

Instead, many are graduating with high student debts and weak prospects for a good regular job.

But something can be done.

At present, Canada’s businesses are sitting on record levels of cash, running into hundreds of billions of dollars. They should be investing some of this money into a better future for Canada’s younger people.

This is where business organizations such as the Canadian Council of Chief Executives and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce should engage in some creative thinking on what their members can and should do to generate hope for the next generation. For starters, businesses could support more apprenticeships and replace shameful “working for free” internship programs with at least the minimum wage.

To be sure, many young people are moving into decent jobs, especially in certain professional and technical fields. But too many are being sidelined by governments and corporations that feel no obligation to the next generation.

So the emergence of Occupy Wall Street, and its various imitations in Canada and elsewhere, should be no surprise.

Nor should we be surprised if there is an increase in social tensions.

Marginalizing young people today makes no sense for the future. We live in an aging society with a rising tide of retirements in the years ahead.

We should be launching today’s young people into meaningful careers now so that they will be equipped to meet the challenges of a competitive futureworld and have the means — and willingness — to care for aging boomers in the years ahead.

Economist David Crane is a syndicated Toronto Star columnist. He can be reached at crane@interlog.com.