"Thats because there aren't any low end jobs anymore"
Plenty of low-end jobs here. About 12,000 of them actually. http://volunteer.com.au/Opportunity/SearchResults
Just one snag - no pay. And they wonder why there is a lack of volunteers amongst our youth. Well now, maybe that's because volunteering doesn't pay the bills, put food on the table or a roof over your head. I'm sure the CEO's and management of charities/community organisations get paid, so why are the people on the bottom rung of the ladder expected to work for free? Plenty of jobs here that unskilled people could do, especially those in the low socio-economic groups who find it tough to even get started. And of course all those lovely old ladies who generally work in op shops/hospital cafes etc, well they're going to be expected to work until they're 70 soon, so they'll be catered for too. Win, win :-)
I would really like somebody to tell me (in a polite way of course) what the obvious thing is that I'm missing here. I don't care if a lovely polite young man/lady who struggled through school never makes it to university, but I do care that through disadvantages in life (poor parents, medical issues etc) that he/she finds it so difficult to find a job, especially when they do want to work and do the right thing. So what if they only ever work as a garbage collector, toilet cleaner, or op-shop assistant? All valuable, necessary jobs that deserve respect and a salary.
Maybe the government could also scrap the working holiday visa? There's a lot of jobs right there (fruit-picking, cafes) that our low-skilled youth could do. We might get better customer service if employers took on youngsters in a proper full-time capacity instead of all this casual crap. If anyone under 30 wants to come here to Australia as a tourist, why can't they work hard in their home country and save up for a holiday, like we used to? This whole "gap year" thing has gone too far I reckon. Also, I keep hearing lately about these university kids from poorer families who keep going away on rather long expensive holidays (mainly around Europe) paid for using the welfare payments that they/their parents are receiving. My daughter is off on holiday soon, all paid for by her own hard work, no hand-outs from me or the government :-)
