ACT Position Vindicated

act-new-zealand

Fri Sep 16 2011 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

ACT Position Vindicated

Friday, 16 September 2011, 12:19 pm
Press Release: ACT New Zealand

ACT Position Vindicated

ACT MP Sir Roger Douglas today heralded Department of Labour research that demonstrates the effect of ending youth wages: a significant increase in the number of youth who cannot find jobs.

"When I first introduced the Bill to re-establish youth minimum wages, those in Labour and the Greens cited research undertaken by Dean Hyslop and Steven Stillman, which indicated earlier increases in the minimum wage for youth had not led to unemployment," Sir Roger said.

"We argued vociferously that the rates were so high that they were locking youth out of jobs, and that the earlier figures were not relevant. Today, a further study undertaken by Hyslop and Stillman proves that we were right.

"The study concluded that 'this minimum wage increase accounted for approximately 20–40 percent of the fall in the proportion of 16 and 17 year olds in employment by 2010. Overall, this implies that the introduction of the NE minimum led to a loss of 4,500-9,000 jobs for 16 and 17 year olds (employment of 16 and 17 year olds fell from 61,400 to 39,500 between 2007 and 2010).'

"If Labour and the Greens want any credibility on this issue, they must now reverse their position. The study and methodology they relied on to argue their case has now demonstrated that they were wrong, ACT was right, and youth are suffering.

"However all the reports in the world will not put a single young person back into work. Reinstating the youth minimum wage will. Sadly ACT has been the only Party with the courage to propose this. If National really cares about the thousands of young people struggling to find work it must pledge to do the same," Sir Roger said.

ENDS

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

a.supporter:hover {background:#EC4438!important;} @media screen and (max-width: 480px) { #byline-block div.byline-block {padding-right:16px;}}

Using Scoop for work?

Scoop is free for personal use, but you’ll need a licence for work use. This is part of our Ethical Paywall and how we fund Scoop. Join today with plans starting from less than $3 per week, plus gain access to exclusive Pro features.

Join Pro Individual Find out more

Find more from ACT New Zealand on InfoPages.