Tracey Martin MP

Spokesperson for Youth Affairs
1 May 2013

Youth Wage a Flash Back to the 80s

New Zealand First says the Government seems determined to take us back to the past with the starting out wage that does nothing to solve the high rate of youth unemployment.

Youth Affairs spokesperson Tracey Martin says introducing the $10.80 per hour minimum wage will only lump more hardship on young people looking for jobs, but who still have bills to pay.

“When I had my first waitressing job in the eighties, I was paid $10 an hour. Thirty years later and a young person in the same role could only be earning 80 cents more an hour.

“The cost of living has skyrocketed since then, but young people are penalised because of their age with a rate that hardly allows them to make ends meet.

“The Government should be concentrating on creating jobs, apprenticeships and opportunities for young people in New Zealand, rather than giving them another reason to book a one way flight to Australia.

“The starting out wage does nothing to give youth a fair start to their working lives,” says Ms Martin.

ENDS

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