Govt drawing up plans to lower youth unemployment

The government is drawing up a plan to reduce the unemployment rate among youths to single digit from 10.8% recorded last year, said Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman.

He said more emphasis would be given to increasing financial literacy and planning among youths as about 47% were faced with high credit card debt issues.

“Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programmes are important element to be incorporated into the plan.

“We need to inculcate an ‘investing culture', even if it only involves a small amount of money. The ministry plans to collaborate with the Securities Commission and corporate players to encourage youths to invest in the market,” he told reporters at the InvestSmart Fest (ISF) 2018 yesterday.

According to a study conducted among 1,000 respondents, investing remained a low priority among millennials, with only 23% of the respondents investing more than 20% of their monthly income and another 40% investing less that 10%.

The study also revealed that the number of young investors increased in 2017, where active accounts of those aged between 18 and 25 years and between 26 and 35 years only accounted for 22.5% of Bursa Malaysia's total retail participation.

On the upcoming Budget 2019, Syed Saddiq said he would focus on enhancing TVET programmes which should be industrial driven in nature.