The PM insists teens can find work by simply \u2018getting off the couch\u2019 \u2013 but industry leaders and youth advocates say he\u2019s out of touch, writes Catherine McGregor in today\u2019s extract from The Bulletin.<\/p>\n
To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday,\u00a0sign up here<\/a>.<\/p>\n A \u2018tough-love\u2019 policy for school leavers<\/p>\n The government\u2019s announcement on Sunday that 18- and 19-year-olds with parents earning over $65,000 will lose access to Jobseeker Support has sparked outrage from the opposition and disbelief from many young people. Prime minister Christopher Luxon defended the policy as \u201cunapologetically\u201d aimed at encouraging young people into work, training or education, insisting there are plenty of jobs available \u2013 if only school leavers would \u201cget off the couch, stop playing PlayStation and go find a job\u201d,\u00a0as he told Rotorua business leaders on Friday<\/a>.<\/p>\n As Henry Cooke reports in The Post<\/a>, Luxon said those unable to find work locally should \u201cgo where the jobs are\u201d. Labour leader Chris Hipkins shot back that \u201cpeople are taking his advice \u2013 they\u2019re moving out of the country\u201d. Around 30,000 New Zealanders left for Australia last year,\u00a0according to Emma Gleason\u2019s number-crunching in The Spinoff<\/a>\u200b. Hipkins also warned that the changes could perversely incentivise low-income families to reduce their hours to stay below the threshold, calling it \u201cbad policy\u201d that punishes hard-working parents rather than creating new opportunities.\u200b<\/p>\n Growers dispute claims of a labour shortage<\/p>\n Luxon\u2019s portrayal of a horticulture sector \u201ccrying out\u201d for workers quickly came under fire from the industry itself. Yummy Fruit Company chief executive Paul Paynter, whose orchards employ hundreds of seasonal staff in Hawke\u2019s Bay,\u00a0told RNZ\u2019s Anneke Smith<\/a>\u00a0that Luxon\u2019s claim simply wasn\u2019t true, at least right now. Work in fruit-growing, he explained, \u201cebbs and flows\u201d \u2013 there\u2019s a brief peak during thinning and harvest seasons, but \u201cthey\u2019re not permanent year-round jobs\u201d. Even during the busy months, kiwifruit producer Michael Franks said, local labour is prioritised; his industry would not \u201ccycle up for jobs\u201d again until March.<\/p>\n Economist Brad Olsen agreed that horticulture offered only \u201ca couple of months\u2019 work a year\u201d, hardly enough to keep young people off Jobseeker for long. The government\u2019s framing, he said, ignored both the short-term nature of such jobs and the fact that employment among 15- to 19-year-olds has fallen by roughly 10,000 positions in the past year.<\/p>\n Competition fierce, opportunities scarce<\/p>\n While Luxon insists that anyone who really wants a job can find one, evidence from the labour market tells a different story.\u00a0Stuff\u2019s Bridie Witton reported<\/a>\u00a0that a front-of-house role at a Wellington Tank juice bar recently attracted 218 applications, while in The Spinoff,\u00a0Gabi Lardies reported<\/a> on a single admin job earlier this year which drew 1,200 applications in two days. Meanwhile data from Student Job Search shows a 63% increase in applications year-on-year, reflecting intense competition for casual and short-term roles. For many, Luxon\u2019s suggestion to relocate for seasonal work rings hollow when rents in regional towns are rising and even basic retail and hospitality roles attract hundreds of applicants.<\/p>\n Disabled teens caught in the net<\/p>\n