OECD report says 580,000 young Australians are bums who spend the day sleeping, watching TV or playing computer games

Australian Youth — Teenagers, who lost their homes as a result of the bushfires, play video games on the side of a bus provided by a charity at a refuge centre in the town of Yea, 100km (62 miles) north of Melbourne, February 12, 2009. Reuters/Mick Tsikas

Experts are doubting the 5.6 percent unemployment rate in August reported on Thursday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The doubt stems from a drop in labour participation rate best represented by more than half a million young Australians who prefer to bum than seek work.

An Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report estimates about 580,000 young Australians belong to the category called NEET which stands for “not in employment, education or training.” In other words, they are basically bums who would rather spend the whole day sleeping, watching TV or playing computer games, reports Daily Telegraph.

One of them is 21-year-old Ashleigh who does not want to work her whole life, saying she wants more than just having a job until she dies. She acknowledges it is hard to get employed but also admits she is not even trying since Centerlink is taking care of her rent anyway.

Her friend, 17-year-old Amy, also from Mt Druitt, was booted out of trade college and could not hold a job which she says pays nothing anyway. She shares, “I call in sick when I’m over it and then they just get rid of me. Not fair really because I just want to have a good time and chill but I don’t want to be fired.”

After the global financial crisis, NEETs in Australia were only 100,000 which has ballooned after eight years despite Australia’s economy having 25 years of no recession. The numbers mean that one in every eight Australians aged 15 to 29 is a NEET, according to OECD’s Investing in Youth report.

Of the 580,000 NEETs in Australia, 41 percent want work and are seeking a job, 40 percent are inactive and unwilling to work and 19 percent want to be employed but are not searching for work. Ashleigh and Amy appear to be part of the 40 percent.

Yahoo News reports that McDonald’s Mt Druitt, where the two young women often hang out, had offered them jobs but they have turned it down. Their reason for not accepting the offer is not having a car, but Ashleigh actually drives an old Barina.

VIDEO: Youth Unemployment in Australia