IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/ausecr/v54y2021i4p421-444.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Is It ‘Dog Days’ for the Young in the Australian Labour Market?

Author

Listed:
  • Jeff Borland
  • Michael Coelli

Abstract

From 2008–2019 there was a substantial deterioration in employment outcomes for the young (aged 15–24 years) in Australia. Their employment/population rate decreased by 4.3 percentage points, whereas for those aged 25 years and above it increased by 1 percentage point. We argue that the major cause was the young being ‘crowded out’ from employment due to an increase in labour market competition. Adjustment to increased competition also meant they were more likely to: be employed part‐time or long‐term unemployed; start their work careers in lower‐quality jobs; and need to compete for jobs through activities such as unpaid internships.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeff Borland & Michael Coelli, 2021. "Is It ‘Dog Days’ for the Young in the Australian Labour Market?," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 54(4), pages 421-444, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ausecr:v:54:y:2021:i:4:p:421-444
    DOI: 10.1111/1467-8462.12431
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8462.12431
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/1467-8462.12431?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jeff Borland, 2020. "Scarring effects: A review of Australian and international literature," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 23(2), pages 173-187.
    2. Ellis Connolly & Kathryn Davis & Gareth Spence, 2011. "Trends in Labour Supply," RBA Bulletin (Print copy discontinued), Reserve Bank of Australia, pages 1-8, June.
    3. repec:bla:ecorec:v:56:y:1980:i:155:p:316-30 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. R. G. Gregory & R. C. Duncan, 1980. "High Teenage Unemployment:The Role of Atypical Labour Supply Behaviour," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 56(155), pages 316-330, December.
    5. Till von Wachter, 2020. "The Persistent Effects of Initial Labor Market Conditions for Young Adults and Their Sources," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 34(4), pages 168-194, Fall.
    6. Ian M. McDonald & Robert M. Solow, 1985. "Wages and Employment in a Segmented Labor Market," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 100(4), pages 1115-1141.
    7. Mark Aguiar & Mark Bils & Kerwin Kofi Charles & Erik Hurst, 2021. "Leisure Luxuries and the Labor Supply of Young Men," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 129(2), pages 337-382.
    8. Robert Breunig & Nathan Deutscher & Hang Thi To, 2017. "The Relationship between Immigration to Australia and the Labour Market Outcomes of Australian-Born Workers," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 93(301), pages 255-276, June.
    9. Dan Andrews & Nathan Deutscher & Jonathan Hambur & David Hansell, 2020. "The career effects of labour market conditions at entry," OECD Productivity Working Papers 20, OECD Publishing.
    10. repec:bla:ecorec:v:64:y:1988:i:186:p:187-95 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Jeff Borland & Andrew Charlton, 2020. "The Australian Labour Market and the Early Impact of COVID‐19: An Assessment," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 53(3), pages 297-324, September.
    12. Alan B. Krueger, 2017. "Where Have All the Workers Gone? An Inquiry into the Decline of the U.S. Labor Force Participation Rate," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 48(2 (Fall)), pages 1-87.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Tomas Kennedy & Peter Siminski, 2022. "Are We Richer than Our Parents Were? Absolute Income Mobility in Australia," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 98(320), pages 22-41, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Henri Bussink & Tobias Vervliet & Bas Weel, 2022. "The Short-Term Effect of the COVID-19 Crisis on Employment Probabilities of Labour-Market Entrants in the Netherlands," De Economist, Springer, vol. 170(2), pages 279-303, May.
    2. Georg Graetz, 2019. "Labor Demand in the Past, Present, and Future," European Economy - Discussion Papers 114, Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission.
    3. Kerwin Kofi Charles & Erik Hurst & Mariel Schwartz, 2019. "The Transformation of Manufacturing and the Decline in US Employment," NBER Macroeconomics Annual, University of Chicago Press, vol. 33(1), pages 307-372.
    4. Benjamin Austin & Edward Glaeser & Lawrence Summers, 2018. "Jobs for the Heartland: Place-Based Policies in 21st-Century America," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 49(1 (Spring), pages 151-255.
    5. Ananth Seshadri, 2018. "A Meta-Analysis of the Decline in the Labor Force Participation Rate," Working Papers wp381, University of Michigan, Michigan Retirement Research Center.
    6. Pinghui Wu, 2022. "Wage Inequality and the Rise in Labor Force Exit: The Case of US Prime-Age Men," Working Papers 22-16, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
    7. Lindsey Lacey, 2023. "The physical and mental health returns of Head Start 25 years after participation: Evidence from income eligibility cutoffs," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 61(4), pages 870-890, October.
    8. Bussink, Henri & Vervliet, Tobias & ter Weel, Bas, 2022. "The Short-Term Effect of the COVID-19 Crisis on Employment Probabilities of Labour-Market Entrants in the Netherlands," IZA Discussion Papers 15242, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Thompson, Owen, 2024. "Human capital and black-white earnings gaps, 1966–2019," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 227(C).
    10. Katharine G. Abraham & Melissa S. Kearney, 2020. "Explaining the Decline in the US Employment-to-Population Ratio: A Review of the Evidence," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 58(3), pages 585-643, September.
    11. Richiardi, Matteo & Nolan, Brian & Kenworthy, Lane, 2018. "The US labour force participation debacle: learning from the contrast with Britain," ISER Working Paper Series 2018-12, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    12. Courtney C. Coile & Mark G. Duggan, 2019. "When Labor's Lost: Health, Family Life, Incarceration, and Education in a Time of Declining Economic Opportunity for Low-Skilled Men," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 33(2), pages 191-210, Spring.
    13. Matteo G Richiardi & Brian Nolan & Lane Kenworthy, 2020. "What happened to the ‘Great American Jobs Machine’?," International Journal of Microsimulation, International Microsimulation Association, vol. 13(1), pages 19-51.
    14. Andrew Foote & Michel Grosz, 2020. "The Effect of Local Labor Market Downturns on Postsecondary Enrollment and Program Choice," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 15(4), pages 593-622, Fall.
    15. Kimbrough, Gray, 2018. "Xboxes and Ex-workers? Gaming and Labor Supply of Young Adults in the U.S," MPRA Paper 87311, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Henri Bussink & Tobias Vervliet & Bas ter Weel, 2022. "The short-term effect of the COVID-19 crisis on employment probabilities of labour-market entrants in the Netherlands," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 22-030/V, Tinbergen Institute.
    17. Wolcott, Erin L., 2021. "Employment inequality: Why do the low-skilled work less now?," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 161-177.
    18. Michael Elsby & David Ratner & Ryan Michaels, 2018. "The Wages of Nonemployment," 2018 Meeting Papers 1077, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    19. Leonora Risse & Angela Jackson, 2021. "A gender lens on the workforce impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 24(2), pages 111-144.
    20. Fays, Valentine & Mahy, Benoît & Rycx, François, 2024. "Do Migrants Displace Native-Born Workers on the Labour Market? The Impact of Workers' Origin," IZA Discussion Papers 16887, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions
    • J32 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Nonwage Labor Costs and Benefits; Retirement Plans; Private Pensions

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:ausecr:v:54:y:2021:i:4:p:421-444. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/mimelau.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.