The Coag reform council's Skills in Australia report released on Wednesday made for sobering reading but also underlined the importance of education to individuals and our overall economy.
The report was a five-yearly account that considered the period of the global financial crisis, so it was never going to be too cheery.
It also makes it a bit tricky to discern the educational performance from the economic. The report, for example, notes: “The proportion of young people (17- to 24-year-olds) fully engaged in work or study following school declined from 73.9% in 2006 to 72.7% in 2011.” Thus within that age group in Australia, around 27% are neither working nor studying.
That is quite shocking, but given the hit to the labour market, a 1% increase might be counted as not too bad. At the end of 2006 the youth unemployment rate was 9.6% and heading down whereas in 2011 it was 11.5% and heading up. Moreover, the current level of youth not employed nor in education is still well below the long-term rate for 20- to 24-year-olds, and around the average for those under 20 years of age.
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