Youth unemployment: a narrative preferred by dodgy politicians

By Tom Parkin

August 21st, 2025

BURLINGTON, ON

Young worker unemployment is up. But it’s not them, it’s the economy (stupid).

Unemployment is most sharply up in Ontario, with now 700,000 joblessness. Ontario’s unemployment rate has increased from 0.1 percentage point below the national rate in April 2023 to a full point above in July 2025.

Within Ontario, unemployment is highest in the manufacturing cities of Windsor and Oshawa, at 10.2 and 9.7 per cent. Unaffordable Toronto, the recent ground-zero of a housing inflation and market explosion, is third at 9.0 per cent.

A politician’s dodgy switch: from problem to victim

But there’s an alternate view on unemployment, one that shifts the focus from Ontario’s economic problem in manufacturing and affordability to the victims. That narrative shift has real dangers. Or opportunity.

A focus on economic problems can lead to economic analysis, public pressure and hopefully economic solutions.

A focus on who is unemployed can easily divert people into moralizing, helping a politician dodge responsibility for lousy economic management. And it doesn’t take much work to divert people onto age-old moralizing about what’s wrong with young people today.

Reporters prefer national victim stories

Aiding dodgy politicians are systemic reasons news media prefers the youth employment narrative rather than focusing on economic problems.

It’s a simpler story. Explaining that soaring housing costs crushed affordability, in turn crushing consumer spending, in turn crushing jobs means maintaining public attention on the bouncing ball. That’s hard. Victim stories are simple. The interviews and pictures are more compelling.

And youth unemployment is a story for a national audience. For almost any news reporter, there is a bias toward crafting a story interesting to a bigger audience. The economic problems of Ontario manufacturing and Toronto unaffordability that are driving national unemployment (including among young workers) are not national stories.

There are some great reporters who take their local or topic beats seriously. But business and economics reporters are full up with Trump tariff stories. Those reporting on Ontario politics are overwhelmed by Ford’s “flood the zone” approach.

At press conferences, Ford yarbles from flights of fantasy to threats of action not in his jurisdiction. Some of those words deserve a mention at the end of a news story. But in a celebrity-focused media space, this inanity gets top space. In the gossipy style of the Toronto Star, inanity doesn’t just lead, it headlines.

Do we need to remind business reporters that Canada can’t fight Trump with 700,000 Ontario workers’ hands tied behind their backs? Or tell certain Queen’s Park reporters to leave gossip, celebrity and inanity to the National Inquirer, 700,000 Ontarians don’t have a job?

A story to actually help young workers

Those reminders bring us back to young workers.

It’s always those least integrated into the labour market who suffer most from unemployment.

As hiring slows, finding a job is tougher — and toughest for those with short resumes. And because they are just starting out, more young people are job hunting. So when unemployment rises, young people are the canaries in the coal mine.

Ontario’s 700,000 unemployed workers are a massive waste of economic potential and a massive social cost. Ontario cannot beat back Trump’s attacks when 700,000 workers are sidelined from the fight.

Politicians can try to divert attention onto victims and away from causes, using systemic media biases to help them. But actually helping unemployed young workers requires a reminder that full employment and households with paycheques is how we best protect a strong and independent Canada.