A New Zealand opposition MP, Su'a William Sio, says young Pacific Island people have a bleak future in the country.
He says a new report by the Salvation Army shows young Pacific people are lagging even further behind since the National-led government came to power in 2008.
The report "Striking a Better Balance" shows Pacific unemployment was at 13-point-nine percent in December last year down from 16 percent a year earlier.
But Mr Sio says it's still much worse than in 2008 when nearly 26,000 young Pacific Islanders had jobs compared to the 21,000 in employment now.
"These are not full-time quality, high earning jobs. These are mainly casual part-time jobs and low paid at that."
Su'a William Sio says higher rates of Pacific Island pre-schoolers being educated is good news but he questions whether the community's demand for bilingual education is being met.
