Consultation on the Long-term Insights Briefing on youth at risk of limited employment

About the consultation

Long-term Insights Briefings are a new requirement for agencies under the Public Service Act 2020, and are part of the duty of stewardship of the public service to look at future challenges and opportunities for New Zealand.

Your input will help to make sure we understand the challenges, priorities and options to get better outcomes for young people who are at risk of limited employment.

Why we are interested in youth at risk of limited employment

Youth at risk of limited employment are a group of 16 to 24-year olds who move between low-paid short-term jobs, unsteady unemployment and/or low-level tertiary education. Research by the Ministry of Education in 2019 found that the definition of young people not in employment, education or training (NEET) can miss people in this group.

Young people at risk of limited employment often don’t have access and opportunity through barriers they have no control over, not through lack of ability or potential to succeed.

As with NEET, young people who get stuck in this cycle can be more likely to be in limited employment throughout their working lives.

By better supporting young people to gain higher skills and work experience, government will be able to support them into more sustainable and rewarding work. There is also a role for government in prevention, to reduce the chances of young people becoming at risk of limited employment.

The final Long-Term Insights Briefing will be a resource with information, analysis and policy options to help government and communities respond more effectively for youth at risk of limited employment.

Why we are consulting

Government agencies are now required under the Public Service Act 2020 to produce Long-term Insights Briefings. The Briefings make available to the public:

• information about medium and long-term trends, risks and opportunities that affect or may affect New Zealand and New Zealand society
• information and impartial analysis, including policy options for responding to these matters.

The Briefing needs to appropriately consider Māori and Treaty interests. The same considerations in relation to Te Tiriti o Waitangi that normally apply to the work of government departments also apply to the Briefings.

Next steps

We will formally seek feedback at two stages as we develop the Briefing.

During July 2021, we will use this consultation document to seek feedback on the subject, scope and focus of the Long-Term Insights Briefing. This will help us develop the first draft of the Briefing.

We will continue engaging with stakeholders throughout 2021 as we develop the draft Briefing.

In early 2022, we will seek feedback on the draft Briefing from the public.

The final Long-term Insights Briefing will be presented to the House of Representatives by 30 June 2022.

The final Briefing will be a knowledge base to help Government to respond more effectively in the future for youth at risk of limited employment. The Briefing will also available as a public resource and evidence base.

Submissions close 5:00pm Sunday 15 August 2021.

If you have any questions please contact skillsandemploymentpolicyteam@mbie.govt.nz

Consultation documents

You can access the consultation documents on the Ministry of Education’s webpage.

Youth at risk of limited employment(external link) - Ministry of Education