ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Suited up in all the appropriate protective gear, Timothy Langmead, is happy about where his choices are leading him.
Langmead, who is from Nova Scotia but has lived in Newfoundland and Labrador for over a dozen years, works with the Choices for Youth social enterprise company Impact Construction.
For the last two years, he has worked on home construction and renovation projects. His goal is to become a Red Seal carpenter. He is currently part of team constructing a five-unit apartment in St. John's for young single mothers that Choices for Youth will operate.
"It's always good to have a goal," he told The Telegram, taking a break on the building's second floor. "It's always good to be working towards something. It gives you something to work for and it helps you look forward to progress you can make in the future, and plan. If you're not doing stuff like that, things get pretty stagnate and they can get pretty depressing."
"If you're not doing stuff like that, things get pretty stagnate and they can get pretty depressing." — Timothy Langmead
A Statistics Canada report released earlier this month delves directly into this topic, looking at the social and economic difficulties that come with not being employed or actively pursuing education or training (NEET). The report was built from data compiled in the Canadian Community Health Survey (2015-17), focusing on youth age 18-29 and comparing results for youth NEET with those for youth who were employed or pursuing education or training (non-NEET). Unique to this report, the data for youth NEET is broken down further into those actively looking for employment and youth caring for children, with the remainder grouped into an "other" category.
Choices for Youth is a non-profit group working with vulnerable youth to help them to obtain housing, employment and education. Chelsey MacNeil is the organization's director of employment, education and social enterprise. She said it is important to get a sense of the mindset and experiences of youth coming to them in search of help, which can better inform a plan of action.
Working with potential
"We believe that all young people have potential, no matter their situation. That is very much at the root of what Choices for Youth is all about," MacNeil said. "What we recognize is that young people come to any of our programs … because there are situations that have occurred in their lives. There's complexities, there's experiences, there could certainly be trauma in their lives, and also the financial and social challenges or barriers they face through that marginalization.
"In employment, we know that because a young person doesn't have employment, it doesn't mean they don't know how to write a resumé, and it doesn't mean they don't know how to get a job. Often, what prevents a young person from getting a job or being employed are the systemic barriers that they face, whether that is mental health, whether that is poverty. It could be addictions. It could be a connection or experience in the justice system. So all these things are why a young person potentially hasn't connected with employment, so we feel it is incredibly important to understand the why before we tackle the problem, which is unemployment."
The new Statistics Canada report —titled "A Profile of Youth Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET) in Canada, 2015 to 2017" — found 11.1 per cent of youth in the sample were NEET. Among youth NEET, 38 per cent were looking for paid work, 27.5 per cent were caring for children and 34.5 per cent were classifieds as "other." Youth NEET were more likely to be in the 25-29 age range, have less education than youth non-NEET and live in households in the bottom 20 per cent based on income.
Among youth NEET, poor self-reported mental and physical health was more common, as was anxiety and mood issues and the occurrence of suicidal thoughts. In some respects, health characteristics of youth NEET looking for work and caring for children were comparable to youth non-NEET, with youth NEET from the "other" category consistently showing poorer health traits.
Prior to pursuing training and improving his work skills through Choices for Youth, Langmead was having a harder time managing depressing thoughts, he says.
"That's definitely true," he said. "It can definitely help keep you active, which can keep your mind active and keep you positive, when you're doing things as opposed to not and just stagnating.
"It has definitely made me more confident. When you're just doing nothing, you feel like all you can do is nothing. When you're actually doing things, then you feel like it's actual, factual proof that you can do things, which can motivate you to do more things."
Life satisfaction
According to the report, youth NEET were less satisfied with life than their non-NEET counterparts, with the lowest level of life satisfaction shown among the subgroup of youth NEET looking for work. In contrast, youth NEET caring for children had life satisfaction comparable to youth non-NEET.
MacNeil confirmed most of the youth coming to her organization in need of help are youth NEET. She said seeking employment can be challenging for many youth in these circumstances, particularly when it can lead to a potential loss of childcare aid or income support that's enabled them to avoid homelessness.
"For a young person, and especially a young mom, for example, there are challenges," she said. "When you go back to work and start earning an income, some of those supports that would promote a healthy, safe place for young people, they can start to change, which could create another round of instability. The employment as a solution really needs to be a broad approach as to how we think of transitional systems."
With Choices for Youth's social enterprise projects, the goal is to offer a transitional employment opportunity for young people that comes with support mechanisms designed to reduce barriers to entering the workforce.
"Whether that's transportation, mental health, addictions support, counselling support — all of those things, we have individualized case managers who assist a young person on a daily basis," said MacNeil. "Beyond that, the social enterprise portfolio that we run with the three businesses, the intention is that a young person has choice in what social enterprises they would like to work in. They receive support regardless of the social enterprises they work in, and they gain exposure to a gamut of different skills and training while working."
In addition to Impact Construction, Choices for Youth operates the Neighbourhood thrift store in St. John's and The Shop, a project where young people manufacture, package and ship products for partner agencies.
Twitter: @CBNAndrew
