It’s only fair to give struggling young people a leg up in life
OVER the past five years I have had the opportunity to work with many people in our community who are constantly challenged by their financial capacity to live a rewarding and fulfilling life.
When you have limited access to funds, it fundamentally shapes your options and your opportunities.
Poverty is not only a measure of financial means, it is also a measure of a person’s capacity to engage with society and to make a positive contribution.
The focus for Anti-Poverty Week in Tasmania this year — it starts today — is to face the challenges and find the solutions for young people experiencing poverty.
Young people experience significant challenges.
They can experience lower levels of educational attainment compared to the rest of the country.
They can be from families that have limited resources or are supported by government welfare payments.
Support payments they receive can be below a living wage and can lead to impoverished conditions.
They can often work in part-time roles, many of which have recently been subject to penalty rate reductions.
They are unable to access employment at the same rate as others. They can begin their working and family lives burdened by debt as they leave tertiary education.
They are unable to access affordable housing.
This made me reflect on the society I entered in the late 1970s as I was leaving school and forging a path ahead.
I left school with clear choices about the future, work and education.
I chose education and left my family home in Launceston to pursue a degree at the University of Tasmania.
I felt supported by the community to pursue my free tertiary education and understood the mutual obligation to give back and participate in enriching my community.
I could access work and was supported by my employers to keep learning and striving to achieve my goals.
So rolling forward 40 years — where have we gone so wrong?
The transitional years from school to work and participation in the community as an adult are some of the most challenging and rewarding periods of our lives.
In the 1970s I felt the community was embracing and supporting me as a future leader to develop and make my mark.
This is often not the experience of young people in 2017 who seek support in our programs.
They can feel unsupported. They have low incomes and can fall into debt.
They can struggle to pay rent and are often couch surfing or sharing a crowded house.
They can struggle to afford healthy food.
Yet Tasmania is the most rapidly ageing community in the country.
If we look forward another 20 years, a significant proportion of us will be relying on the young people in our community to support us in
Poverty prevents the helping hand so many of us took for granted, says Danny Sutton
our golden years. I have two boys who are in the zone of leaving school in the next few years and I regularly connect with young people through the Colony 47 services. And you know, I really like their generation.
Given the opportunity, they show that they care. They have a sense of community. They are passionate about society. They are talented and connected.
They are also learning to disruptively and robustly present themselves and their ideas to the community and they will continue to use these talents to exercise their considerable political muscle across the world.
If we are going to create a thriving and connected community, we need to consider some long-term investments in the leaders of the future. Yes, investment.
This week we will be focusing on three key actions for our leaders to consider to give our young people the leg up they deserve.
Young people should have access to an adequate level of financial support by increasing Newstart and Youth Allowances as a community investment in them to take their opportunities in life;
Young people should be able to access affordable housing in areas that are well serviced for their needs; and
Young people should be supported in lifelong affordable education and training opportunities and preferred in employment for entry level and graduate level roles wherever possible.
As fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, grandparents and friends we all have great hope for the young people in our lives and it is with great pride that we see them take opportunities and overcome the obstacles that they face in life. But none us does it alone. My father was passionate about our education and his strong resolve to make it a priority and his compassion in tough times made it worthwhile.
He knew the value of a leg up and understood it as a catalyst to a fulfilling and contributing life.
As a community, it’s time for us to do the same. Danny Sutton is the chief executive of Colony 47 which provides support to over 20,000 Tasmanian children, young people and families every year.