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YOUNG
CARIBBEAN MEN AND THE LABOR MARKET
The Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of
Essex, used 11 years of the Labor Force Survey to focus intensely on the experiences of one
group with an exceptionally high risk of unemployment – young Caribbean men. The
analysis compares young Caribbean men with those from selected ethnic groups.
The study found:
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Young Caribbean men were more than twice as likely to be unemployed
as young non-Caribbean men. They also had lower earnings.
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Young Caribbean men’s qualifications were not much worse than those
of their non-Caribbean equivalents, though there were strong signs that they may be falling
behind. Other young minority groups were obtaining significantly higher qualifications
than young Caribbean men.
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Caribbean men were
likely to be living with a spouse or
children than members of other ethnic groups, especially those of South Asian origin.
Although single men generally have poorer employment prospects than those with family
commitments, this influence was no stronger for Caribbean’s than for other groups.
The TransCAP organization feels that family support and employment is a key to improving a
young man’s participation in society. No matter how minor the job, many potential TransCAP
clients want to work and constantly ask to do odd jobs and run errands for us in the office.
We recognize that as a health and well-being organization, employment matters are secondary
deliverables to our clients. However as we solicit donations and contributions from the
business sector for our health services program, we always solicit employment opportunities
for our clients as well. We acknowledge that this is not our area of expertise, but feel
compelled to do so, given the unemployment climate of the Country.
Our Job Placement program offers participating employers a percentage share of our client’s
salary for three months. For every TransCAP client employed through this program, our staff
will closely monitor the client’s work performance and potential to remain with the employer
as a stable part of the business workforce.
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