Capitalism and Good Jobs

1. Capitalism and Good Jobs Andrew Langille- IPAC Presentation – Oct 15, 2014

2. OverView • Focus of Presentation • Labour market, demographic, socio-economic, and cultural issues impacting young people. • What am I going to cover? • The problems that young people are facing today. • Specific pressures that young people encounter in Ontario’s labour market. • Illustrate these pressures and problems with a case study on unpaid internships. • What public policy tools are available to address these pressures and problems.

3. The Pressures Facing Young Ontarions • Increasing Amount of Pressures Bearing Down on Young People • Where are these pressure coming from? Economic, socio-cultural, political. • Economic: lack of good jobs; increased competition; rising wealth and income inequality; housing prices; poor rental stock; unaffordable childcare; cost of PSE tuition; outmigration to Western provinces; and, inability to save for retirement. • Socio-cultural: surging mental health problems; delaying major life events; reduced household formation; reduced birthrate; and, delayed adulthood. • Political: unresponsive public policy; lack of intergenerational equity; crumbling social safety net which is often inaccessible; prolonged focus on tax cuts limit possible responses; generational fracturing; and, perception that government is increasingly a gerontocracy for the benefit of older Canadians. • Examples: Quebec student protests; Idle No More; and, Occupy movement.

4. Trends in the Youth Labour Market • What’s has been happening in the youth labour market in Ontario post-2008? • Surge in unemployment and underemployment post-2008 with the recovery still quite tepid for young people; particularly, this is a problem for the GTA/SwOnt. • Increased prevalence in non-standard and precarious work (i.e. contract, temp, part-time, self-employment) as employers shift risk and costs onto workers. • Precarious work appears to have become a structural, defining issue of Ontario. • Increase in discouraged workers and (NEET) not engaged in education or training. • The weak labour market post-2008 has inflicted generational scarring that will cause continuing economic damage to younger workers. • Young people find it increasingly hard to land a good job (i.e. security, decent/living wage, benefits, set hours of work).

5. Case Study: Unpaid Internships • Unpaid internships have become a structural feature of the youth labour market. • Internships have a long history in Ontario (100+ years) and can be beneficial. • 1990s saw the creation of large government/corporate funded programs. • 2000s saw an elimination of a lot of funding, but employers were already hooked. • Last fifteen years have seen the emergence of unpaid internships as a critical part of the school-to-labour market transition, but often illegal and exploitative. • Tied to: Harris-era ESA reforms; creation of flexible labour market; and, push by government and PSE institutions to offer work-integrated learning programs. • Now there’s a major problem. Internships are inequitable, drive down wages, lead employers to replace paid employees with unpaid interns, create the illusion of opportunity, eliminate entry-level jobs, and shift risks/costs onto young workers.

6. Public Policy Responses • What are the possible public policy responses that are available? • - Overall, we need a shift in our approach towards longer-term thinking which values a reinvigoration of the role of government, benchmarking outcomes, building partnerships between employers, PSE institutions, and unions, and a greater investment in low-skilled workers. • - Regulatory policy: better, more responsive labour standards and greater enforcement; living wage regulation; and, ensure students and young workers are protected during the school-to-labour market transition. • Social policy: necessary to reconstitute and strengthen social welfare policy; expand workers’ compensation and employment insurance; examining implementation of a guaranteed annual income; affordable childcare; and, shift government spending to be more equitable to all generations and assist during critical life events. • Demand-side labour market policy: better labour market information; workforce development; linking active labour market programs (ALMPs) to employer demand; creating sector strategies and workforce planning boards; and, funding for research bodies that can analyze and explain what’s happening in the labour market.