Youth & Unemployment

In recent years, the Greater Toronto Region has witnessed a disturbing increase in its “street-involved” and homeless youth population.   The 2002 Children and Youth Advocate’s Annual Report from the City of Toronto indicates that the number of youth living on the streets, in temporary housing or emergency shelters, squatting in abandoned buildings or staying with friends had risen dramatically, with emergency shelters reporting an increase of 13% from 1994 through 1999.  Estimates suggest that there are as many as 10,000 who are homeless at any given time.  Conservative estimates put as many as 2,000 of these young people actually going without shelter at night. Some estimates believe this number to be as high as 5,000 young people.

Other recent studies, such as those conducted by the SHOUT CLINIC and THE CITY OF TORONTO; indicate a proportionate rise and exposure to legal activity due to these increases.  The Shout Clinic currently estimates that 30% of Toronto’s street-involved youth have been involved in some form of criminal activity within the previous three months.  76% of young men and 52% of young women had been arrested on at least one occasion in the past.   63% of males and 36% of females have served time in jail or some other form of detention.

And the costs are staggering.  While the average cost of incarcerating an adult is roughly $50,000, the cost of detention for a youth is $100,000.  In comparison, at minimum wage it costs roughly $18,000 to employ a youth for one year. 

Poor employment presents a significant barrier to street youth moving out of this life-style.  Without ways of generating safe income, these youth become increasingly vulnerable to less desirable ways of producing income such as shoplifting, break and enter, drug trafficking and prostitution, simply to provide food and shelter.

By addressing the employment needs of these youth, GLYV seeks to contribute to the physical, emotional and spiritual well-being of Toronto’s “street-involved” youth population.  By providing paid work, transferable skill training and life supports, we offer youth the possibility of gaining resources for healthy, stable living.