- Youth unemployment hits record high, By Katie Allen, August 11, 2010, The Guardian: “Global youth unemployment has hit a record high and is expected to rise further, according to a report from the International Labour Organisation, which echoes warnings in the UK that young people continue to be the hardest hit by the recession. Of around 620 million economically active 15 to 24-year-olds, 81 million were unemployed at the end of 2009, the highest number since records began in 1991, the UN agency says. That put the global youth unemployment rate at 13%, up from 11.9% just before the global downturn in 2007…”
- UN labor report shows drastic increase in youth unemployment, By Lisa Schlein, August 12, 2010, Deutsche Welle: “According to a United Nations report released on Thursday, labor market trends for young people have taken a drastic turn for the worse since 2007, when global youth unemployment remained fairly stagnant. For the 10 years prior to the economic crisis, the report noted the number of unemployed youth around the world had increased by an average of 200,000 per year. In 2009, however, youth unemployment increased by a staggering 6.7 million. Sara Elder, an economist with the International Labor Organization (ILO) and co-author of the report, says youth unemployment is most severe in the developed economies and non-EU, central and southeastern Europe…”
- Global youth unemployment reaches new high, By Matthew Saltmarsh, August 11, 2010, New York Times: “Youth unemployment across the world has climbed to a new high and is likely to climb further this year, a United Nations agency said Thursday, while warning of a ‘lost generation’ as more young people give up the search for work. The agency, the International Labor Organization, said in a report that of some 620 million young people ages 15 to 24 in the work force, about 81 million were unemployed at the end of 2009 – the highest level in two decades of record-keeping by the organization, which is based in Geneva. The youth unemployment rate increased to 13 percent in 2009 from 11.9 percent in the last assessment in 2007…”
Day: August 12, 2010
Welfare Reform – Australia
- Labor toughens welfare rules, By Patricia Karvelas, August 12, 2010, The Australian: “Julia Gillard has promised much tougher welfare conditions for those on the dole. She has warned the unemployed that they will lose their benefits if they miss an interview or scheduled training opportunities. Welfare groups slammed the move as draconian, while the Coalition accused the Prime Minister of copying its as-yet-unannounced policy. Ms Gillard yesterday revealed she would offer long-term unemployed people up to $6000 to relocate to take up a job, under a welfare-to-work initiative first flagged by the opposition. Employers will be offered $2500 to take on long-term unemployed who have relocated, as the government sets out to encourage people to shift to areas with worker shortages. The program will begin with a trial relocation assistance package, starting in January with 2000 long-term unemployed people…”
- Welfare payments linked to child health checks, By Patricia Karvelas, August 10, 2010, The Australian: “Julia Gillard has announced new rules requiring parents of four-year-olds to take the children for health checks before getting benefits. At stake for the parents is the $726.35 family tax benefit. The new rules for the payment of Family Tax Benefit Part A are part of a radical new plan to link welfare with behavioural change. The Prime Minister announced in Melbourne today a major extension of the government’s welfare reform plan that began with the dole and payments to single mothers. Working parents who receive family payments will be obliged to fulfil responsibilities imposed by the authorities before they receive taxpayer money. Payment of the family tax benefit end-of-year supplement for families on income support for four-year-olds will be conditional on certification that a Healthy Kids Check has been undertaken. The Healthy Kids Checks for four-year-olds were introduced by the government in 2008 to ensure children were healthy before they started school…”
Emergency Room Use in the US
UCSF study finds big jump in ER visits, By Victoria Colliver, August 11, 2010, San Francisco Chronicle: “Emergency room visits to U.S. hospitals increased more than 23 percent from 1997 to 2007 – double what researchers expected the rise would be based on population growth, according to a UCSF study released today. Total annual visits to the country’s emergency departments rose from 94.9 million in 1997 to an estimated 116.8 million over the next decade, the study found. Visit rates for adults on Medicaid accounted for the jump, while rates for adults with private insurance and those on Medicare showed no significant change. Relatively low reimbursements to physicians who care for patients on Medicaid, the federal-state health program for the poor who meet certain criteria, were believed to be a key factor behind the increase…”