Unemployment further strains youths’ economic well-being
It has been almost two years since Pakatan Harapan (PH) took over the government, and the issue of the high cost of living remains a constant worry among Malaysians. People including the youths, continue to complain about the hike in prices despite bidding goodbye to GST in June 2019.
According to REDHILL’s ASEAN Youth Survey, Malaysian youths between the crucial ages of 18-35 are generally worried about the high cost of living. 41% said the price of essential goods has become too high. Meanwhile, there was an even split between those who think they could get luxury items from time to time and those who could not.
Apart from the high prices of essential goods, the availability of affordable housing is another major problem faced by young Malaysians today, especially those who are only about to start out their life.
While the prices of goods continue to increase, the concern of unemployed graduates further strains the economical well-being of youths. According to data of ‘graduate unemployment’ in 2019, the issue has a higher number of news in the second half of the year as compared to in its first six months.
In fact, data by The World Bank reveals that in the past decade, 2019 had the highest number of unemployed Malaysian youths between the ages of 15-24, standing at 11.67%. It is also noticeable that the percentage of unemployed young workers shows no signs of decreasing since 2016 as the numbers grew higher each year.
One of the promises of PH in the 14th General Elections was to create one million job opportunities by 2023. Looking at the current unemployment rate, can the government accomplish this target by GE-15?