Introduction

Youth Rates is a concern within New Zealand. The difference between wage of adult and teenagers were noticable with Youth who became aware of it. Youth affected have taken action on the matter of course and in many cases, succeeded. However i feel like there is a problem where when Youth Rates are abolished, there is a chain effect which could affect employment rates and other such social matters. I intend to explore New Zealand's changes on youth rates in the past 10years and explain why they can be bad.

Taking Action

In August 2007, Youth employed Part time, Full time and Casual took to the streets around New Zealand. The Campaign called "End Youth Rates Now" was centred in four major cities in New Zealand, Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington and in Auckland. The aim: abolish Youth Rates in work places. The goal of the unions  and those had been subdued to work force discrimination due to their age was for equality in the work place.

Rainbows End was a key anecdote used as part of their campaign. Gruelling negotiations over a 3 - 5 month period to raise youth rates to be closer or as equal to adult rates lead to a successful win for staff  and became a key example for the campaign and the country.

During my time working there i saw the benefits. Being a Cleaner in "New Zealand's Premiere Theme Park" this seemed like a huge step forward, simply because the standard $8.50 pay rate was simply enough for most of us who had parents telling us we had to start paying our own way through life with transport prices going up and commodities with most of us also helping with pay the monthly bills our parent's could not sustain alone.

For most of us it was degrading working longer hours than older staff and getting paid less. New Zealand's award winning Polynesian Band "Nesian Mystik" even threw in their support also and performed at the end of the Protest Rallies. A colleague of mine, Melanie Cawte was invited to speak at the end of the Auckland Protest Rally. She spoke of the "new entrant rate" which entitles 16-17yr olds who has worked atleast 200 hours or a minimum of 3months to be eligible for adult rates and how successful it can be. The New Zealand government considered this and passed it in the youth rates.