In the uncertain future of every youth, the only true constant appears to be the increasing cost of housing. It suggests that tomorrow’s adults will be shivering little match people, peering through rain soaked windows into cozy (though empty) rooms owned by housing speculators, their interior warmth generated by the friction of buying and selling.
Apocryphal? Undoubtedly. But still a great source of worry.
Youth need to work and earn money to rent or buy homes. The following article on youth employment comes from Australia, but it will reflect very similar youth issues in many other countries. Here are several different “activist” viewpoints, in some ways in agreement, in others at considerable odds with each other. All offer practical solutions to the problems of youth employment rather than merely featuring studies that define the issues and go no further.
If you don’t know what an Australian backpacker is, take a moment to check out this footnote1 before reading more in The Guardian: Jobs for the kids: ‘I don’t want to see them falling through the cracks’
Footnotes
- In the US, casual migrant labour sneaks across the southern border. With a lack of sneaky, hardworking Americans crossing into Canada, that country is forced to fly migrant labour in, often from the Caribbean. Australia, by contrast, is a frequent end destination for restless, adventure-seeking youth, who arrive with their backpacks and look for casual labour opportunities to further fuel their adventures.
