When most people look at unemployment stats, they see a percentage figure that’s gone either up or down, shrug, and move on with their day.

It’s not an earth-shattering statistic to the average reader: there’s either more or fewer people with jobs than last time, and that’s probably going to impact the economy a little, and maybe the markets will react, but that’s pretty much all there is to it. Right?

Unfortunately, the reality is a lot more grim.

Unemployment carries with it a very well researched and proven set of disastrous correlations for the people it impacts. Studies in both Canada and the U.S. have shown that death, suicide, drug addiction and a host of other physical and mental health ailments are the handmaidens of higher unemployment.

One such bit of data, from a 1970s study made famous by Brad Pitt’s character in the excellent film The Big Short, is that for every 1% increase in U.S. unemployment, 40,000 people die. The exact figure has been debated, but in broad terms, unemployment is linked to more stress, adverse cardiovascular events, suicide, homicide, drug and alcohol addiction and removes access to health insurance, creating even more downstream problems.

On the flipside, a U.S. study of 120,000 people aged 18-24 showed that being employed reduces mortality from all causes by a staggering 40%, and halves the risk of homicide mortality.

Canada should sit up and pay attention.

As of May 2025, the unemployment rate for youth aged 15 to 24 in Canada stood at an alarming 14.2%, marking a level not seen since 2016 outside the pandemic years. Among students returning to school, that rate soared to 20.1%, matching peaks comparable to the Great Recession era.

Canadian studies and global meta-analyses consistently reveal that unemployed youth face dramatically higher risks not only of mental health disorders but of self-harm and suicidal behaviour, even when physical healthcare access is available.

And Canada’s youth is, as the cliché goes, our literal future: demographic trends imply looming shortages in the workforce as Baby Boomers retire (the immigration solutions to this challenge are for another blog post). If our country’s young people are increasingly marginalized and face an uphill climb into the workforce, we should all be ringing alarm bells.

Not having a job early on in your career drains more than just income. It interrupts critical skill-building, network formation, and access to mentoring opportunities. The result is often lower long-term earnings and worse future job quality. And you can forget about saving and investing, all which have implications for the economy and Canada’s social safety net.

How big could the impact be? A report last year by Deloitte and the King’s Trust estimated that by 2034, youth unemployment will cost Canada’s GDP $18.5 billion, a result of stalled human capital accumulation and delayed entry into productive jobs.

Canada’s youth unemployment crisis isn’t just about an elevated unemployment rate. It’s about a generation facing spiraling mental health challenges, social exclusion, long-term economic setbacks, and reduced life opportunities. It’s also a stark reminder that there are real people – often coping with significant challenges and facing death, disease and poverty – behind the unemployment stats.