Think-tank says student unemployment higher than believed

An education think-tank says student unemployment this summer is much higher than Stats Canada believes.

The Canadian Education Project today released a new report on Canadian university student participation in the labour force, and finds student unemployment is at nearly 20 per cent, almost double the rate reported by Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey.

CEP Director, and report co-author, Miriam Kramer, tells 570 News, Statistics Canada systematically excludes large numbers of individuals in summer school whom the CEP found to be available for, and looking for work.

Kramer says financial aid programs assume students will get a job and contribute to their tuition.

Data also shows just over two-thirds of students were employed for an average of 34 hours per week, which is roughly in line with long-term averages.

Those students are earning just over the minimum wage, at about $400 per week; male students earn more than female students.

Kramer says their data is not broken down by individual schools.

The survey heard from 4,802 individuals aged 18 and older, enrolled in an undergraduate program at a degree-granting institution during 2009-10 and who were planning to continue in 2010-11.

Stats Canada says any student who is available for work but is not working and is unemployed is captured in the survey.