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The UN has cautioned that the high rate of unemployment amongst young adults might suggest “a lot of young people are going to be left behind”.
It’s a myth that all young adults are supported by their parents, or just work part time.
The BBC spoke with 4 young adults who are looking for work – this is what they say it’s like to be in your 20 s and jobless throughout the pandemic.
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Call: Ross Mortimer
Age: 26
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Previous profession: Opera vocalist, server
What are you doing now? I’ve begun babysitting. I discuss in the morning four times a week. I’m attempting to keep up with music also, I needed to lease a keyboard so I could practise in the house.
I’m simply attempting to delight in the summertime. With music there’s probably nothing that will make money until January, and I simply need to accept that.
How are you getting by? Before the pandemic, I was making a minimum of twice as much money a month but my income varied. Now I know exactly how much cash I’m going to have a month since I get the federal government coronavirus stipend, and I can budget plan. I’m truly afraid for September though, when my student loans will launch once again (they were stopped briefly because of coronavirus).
How’s the job search going? There’s no guarantee of any work next year at the Canadian Opera Business (COC). And they cancelled the fall – two out of 6 programs that season – with the possibility of the entire next season not taking place. I’m kind of anxious to return to restaurants right now due to the fact that I believe I’m not going to have the ability to discover a job up until they open inside, and then it’s working inside with great deals of direct exposure to people.
What are your fears for the future? My main objective is music. So the restaurant, while I’m sad I have actually lost of that earnings stream, I’m not overly worried. But with music, that industry could be completely affected. My biggest worry is most likely arts organisations closing down permanently. I just worry that culture in Canada is going to be not supported.
I actually just finished from my master’s a year earlier. I was getting jobs – I got the chorus job (at the COC) and I spent last summer in Italy singing. Now I’m not doing anything.
How does your age impact your circumstance? There’s a lot less job security, but because I have actually essentially matured because I’m not amazed. I’m used to needing to try to find tasks like babysitting, or going to paint someone’s wall. It does not feel totally crazy. I’ve never had a full time task with benefits available to me.
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‘ I had to get utilized to the uncertainty’.
Call: Zainab Mehdi
Age: 22
Area: Toronto, Ontario
Previous occupation: Current graduate from McGill University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology
What were you planning to do this summer season? This summer season my plan was to stay in Montreal and research for a bit, due to the fact that I was working for a behavioural neuroscience lab and we were dealing with a paper that was supposed to be sent out for publishing in the next couple of months. McGill shut down on 13 March and the laboratories