By Sean Malloy
Finishing high school used to mean the beginning of independence and determining how you want to live your life. Leaving school now means facing unemployment, debt and poverty.
Those who leave school looking for a job will find 150,800 people aged between 15 and 19 out of work (about 28% of the workforce). People aged between 20 and 24 leaving TAFE or university will find 168,400 other people aged between 20 and 24 also looking for jobs.
The duration of unemployment for these age groups is growing. The average time unemployed by 15-19 year olds is 25 weeks and by 20-24 year olds 36.8 weeks.
In September there were 68 unemployed people for every job vacancy.
Adding insult to injury are the benefit payments. Payments for 16 and 17 year olds is $62.05 per week, subject to a personal and parental income test, or $102 per week if they are classified as independent.
Unemployed 18 to 20 receive $113.25 and those over 21 are entitled to $138.85.
Young people who are homeless can receive an allowance of $102 per week if they are unable to live at home because of harsh domestic circumstances. People under 16 are considered on a case-by-case basis and receive only special benefits.
The current poverty line for single people calculated by the Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research at Melbourne University is $186.16 per week. Unemployed young people are on incomes up to $124
below the poverty line.
More school leavers are trying to improve their chances through further education or training at TAFE or university. But options here are also being cut back.
It is projected that 185,000 people will be turned away from TAFE in 1992. The shortage of places in NSW and Queensland is 90,000 and 40,000 respectively. Bob Hawke's announcement of extra funds for 50,000 more TAFE places nationally still leaves 135,000 people in the cold.
Next year NSW TAFE students will pay an administrative charge of at least $140 for the year. There has been discussion of a $1000 per year charge, which would discourage more people from attempting to enrol.
University students face moves to cut first year enrolments by 5% to prevent "over-enrolments" — which totalled 23,000 this year. The Higher Education Contribution Scheme, under which students pay fees after they have left university, is going up from $1993 to $2250 per year from 1992.
It is not possible to pay for TAFE or university fees on from $62.05 to $113.25 a week.
Students have to borrow money from relatives, friends or institutions. They will probably have to live with their parents or somehow find a part-time job, which interferes with studying, or find ways of cheating the system.
Those young people who do get a job are usually on pay scales well below the average weekly wage of $560.20. For example, first year Telecom electrical apprentices earn $173.29 per week, $12.87 under the poverty line, and Australia Post apprentice technicians under 18 earn only $191.61.
So the majority of young people who do get a job will face years of low incomes or poverty anyway. Leaving school is no longer something to look forward to but rather something to dread.