tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/labour-market-2562/articlesLabour market – The Conversation2024-02-11T19:07:44Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2228972024-02-11T19:07:44Z2024-02-11T19:07:44ZHILDA data show women’s job prospects improving relative to men’s, and the COVID changes might have helped<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574298/original/file-20240208-30-m3prdb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=215%2C257%2C3550%2C1856&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/business-people-shaking-hands-finishing-meeting-605124179">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The latest <a href="https://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/hilda/publications/hilda-statistical-reports">HILDA survey</a> shows Australia’s gender gap in employment continuing to close, with progress beginning on the earnings gap. </p>
<p>Remarkably, the progress has continued notwithstanding the disruptions caused by COVID; there are indications they may even have helped.</p>
<p>Funded by the Australian government and managed by the Melbourne Institute, the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey is one of Australia’s most valuable social research tools.</p>
<p>HILDA examined the lives of 14,000 Australians in 2001 and has kept coming back each year to discover what has changed. By surveying their children as well, and in future surveying their grandchildren, it is building up a long-term picture of how the lives of Australians are changing.</p>
<h2>Employment lifting</h2>
<p>The full span of the surveys through to the results for 2021 released this morning shows shows the proportion of women aged 18 to 64 in paid employment climbed from 64.3% in 2001 to 74.1% in 2019 before dipping during COVID and then bouncing back.</p>
<p>Separate labour force figures collected by the Bureau of Statistics suggest it might be as high as <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-and-unemployment/labour-force-australia-detailed/dec-2023#all-data-downloads">76%</a> by now, indicating that COVID may have merely dented rather than turned back progress.</p>
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<p>For men of that age, the proportion in paid employment has changed little during those two decades, fluctuating between 80% and 84%, allowing the gap in employment between men and women to narrow eight percentage points.</p>
<p>Older women aged 65 to 69 are also much more likely to be employed. Most of the gain has taken place since 2009 when one in ten women of that age were in paid employment, a figure that has since climbed to one in four, not too far off the one in three men of that age employed.</p>
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<p>Much of the increase would be due to the phased increase in the female pension age between <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp1314/SuperChron">1995 and 2004</a> and the further increase in both the male and female pension age between <a href="https://ministers.treasury.gov.au/ministers/wayne-swan-2007/media-releases/secure-and-sustainable-pension-reform-age-pension-age">2017 and 2023</a>. Broader social and economic changes such as the increase in two-earner couples will have also played a role.</p>
<p>While men remain well ahead in full-time employment, that gap is narrowing too. The proportion of women aged 18 to 64 employed full-time has climbed from around 35% to around 40% while the proportion for men has stayed close to 70%.</p>
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<p><a href="https://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/2874177/HILDA-report_Low-Res_10.10.18.pdf">Previous HILDA reports</a> have shown the arrival of children remains an important driver of divergence in the labour market experiences of men and women.</p>
<p>The arrival of a couple’s first child sees hours of paid work of the mother plummet and in many cases not recover for more than a decade. It has almost no effect on the paid working time of fathers. </p>
<p>Time spent on housework and child care, by contrast, rises dramatically for mothers and actually falls slightly for fathers.</p>
<p>If the gender gap in employment is to be eliminated, it is clear couples with children will need to share the load more equally. </p>
<h2>Wages lifting</h2>
<p>Male and female earnings have been converging slower than male and female employment, but the pace has picked up.</p>
<p>In 2001, women employed full-time earned on average 79% of what men earned. As recently as 2016, they still earned only 78% of what men earned. </p>
<p>But, since then, their earnings relative to male earnings have shot up, hitting 86% in 2021. </p>
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<p>The gap in earnings of all employees – full-time and part-time – is greater because women are more likely to be employed part-time, but growth in the number of women employed full-time means this gap is closing faster. Average female earnings have climbed from 66% of male earnings in 2001 to 75% in 2021.</p>
<h2>How COVID might have helped</h2>
<p>While the pandemic seemed to hurt women’s employment prospects <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/womens-work/">more</a> than men’s, longer term it seems to be improving the relative position of women.</p>
<p>HILDA shows the proportion of employees working from home in 2020 and 2021 has increased substantially. </p>
<p>The proportion working any hours at home climbed from 25.1% in 2019 to 37.3% in 2021. The proportion working only at home climbed from 3.5% to 17.7%. </p>
<p>There has also been a sizeable rise in the proportion of employees reporting an entitlement to work from home, from 35% in 2019 to 45%. </p>
<p>While the increases were greatest in the regions that experienced extensive lockdowns – Victoria, NSW and the ACT – working from home increased in almost all parts of Australia.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/hilda-finds-working-from-home-boosts-womens-job-satisfaction-more-than-mens-and-that-has-a-downside-195641">HILDA finds working from home boosts women's job satisfaction more than men's, and that has a downside</a>
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<p>HILDA shows women have been more likely to work from home than men since COVID, even after accounting for differences in the occupations and industries in which they work.</p>
<p>This is probably because of an increase in the number and types of jobs that can be worked at home by mothers with caring responsibilities. </p>
<p>But this latest 2021 HILDA survey also reveals another gender gap in the labour market: women are more likely to work while unwell, including working at the workplace while unwell. </p>
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<p>There are health risks from working from home while unwell and also career risks from working at home. Being physically present in the workplace is likely to assist with <a href="https://theconversation.com/hilda-finds-working-from-home-boosts-womens-job-satisfaction-more-than-mens-and-that-has-a-downside-195641">career advancement</a>.</p>
<p>“Out of sight” can mean “out of mind” when it comes to promotions.</p>
<h2>Some small steps on sharing the caring</h2>
<p>Also providing a glimmer of hope for closing the gender gaps in the labour market is that, among parents with children, we’ve seen an increase in the time men have been spending on household chores and looking after the children. </p>
<p>The improvement accelerated slightly in 2020 and 2021, via both an increase in the hours worked on domestic chores by men and a slight decrease for women. </p>
<p>But there is a long way to go. In 2021, mothers of dependent children were still spending 75% more time on unpaid housework and child care than their male partners.</p>
<p>The mothers spent <a href="https://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/hilda/publications/hilda-statistical-reports">53 hours</a> per week. Their male partners spent 30 hours.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Roger Wilkins receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>The gender wage and employment gaps are narrowing, and working from home is helping drive the change.Roger Wilkins, Professorial Fellow and Deputy Director (Research), HILDA Survey, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2108972023-09-03T20:03:03Z2023-09-03T20:03:03ZBeing the main breadwinner didn’t necessarily keep married mums in work during the pandemic<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540668/original/file-20230802-19-2o1z8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C24%2C5447%2C3596&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the toughest days of the pandemic, many dual-income families made the difficult choice to drop down to one income. </p>
<p>With dads being the primary earners in many heterosexual households, it was often the mother who gave up her job to manage all the extra housework, homeschooling and childcare the pandemic brought.</p>
<p>But what about heterosexual households where the mother was the primary earner?</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jomf.12926">study</a>, published in the Journal of Marriage and Family, involved analysis of 7,139 different-sex married parents in the United States, captured at multiple time points. We found many married mothers who earned half or more of the family’s income got knocked out of employment during the first 18 months of the pandemic. </p>
<p>The employment rate of fathers who earned the bulk of the money over this time dropped much less, we found. In fact, it barely changed.</p>
<p>Our study also found the ability to work remotely was an important lifeline for mothers to retain employment. Overall, earning more of the income couldn’t guarantee mothers would be protected from employment loss, but working remotely was crucial to mothers remaining employed. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540669/original/file-20230802-19-6hm10h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540669/original/file-20230802-19-6hm10h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540669/original/file-20230802-19-6hm10h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540669/original/file-20230802-19-6hm10h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540669/original/file-20230802-19-6hm10h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540669/original/file-20230802-19-6hm10h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540669/original/file-20230802-19-6hm10h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540669/original/file-20230802-19-6hm10h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The pandemic pummelled mothers through added childcare, housework, and homeschooling.</span>
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<h2>Even earning more, many mothers were knocked out of employment</h2>
<p>To track US mothers’ employment over the duration of the pandemic, we used data from the Annual Social and Economic Supplement of the Current Population Survey. The data are collected by the US Census Bureau.</p>
<p>Our sample included civilian respondents aged 25–54 who were different-sex, married parents with children 12 years or younger. In each case, both the respondent and their spouse reported working for pay in 2019, before the pandemic started.</p>
<p>We used this data set to follow mothers’ and fathers’ employment patterns over the first year of the pandemic (January 2020 to May 2021). </p>
<p>We found fathers in this group who were primary earners tended to remain employed over this period. </p>
<p>The employment rate for mothers, by contrast, dropped significantly in the first few months and never fully recovered. It didn’t matter if mothers were primary earners or not – their employment rate still dropped.</p>
<p>In fact, by the March to May period of 2021, mothers’ employment was over four percentage points lower than pre-pandemic levels – regardless of their earnings.</p>
<p>So, earning more of the family income didn’t necessarily shield mothers from employment loss. What did matter, however, was access to telecommuting. </p>
<p>Mothers who could work online had significantly higher employment rates across the period of our study than mothers who couldn’t. Additionally, the positive effect of telecommuting on employment was four times larger for mothers than for fathers.</p>
<p>Telecommuting was a lifeline for mothers’ employment during the pandemic.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541587/original/file-20230807-25-qhmckc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman exams documents and works from home while her pre-schooler plays in the background. Half-eaten food and mess sits near her computer." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541587/original/file-20230807-25-qhmckc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541587/original/file-20230807-25-qhmckc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541587/original/file-20230807-25-qhmckc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541587/original/file-20230807-25-qhmckc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541587/original/file-20230807-25-qhmckc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541587/original/file-20230807-25-qhmckc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541587/original/file-20230807-25-qhmckc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Earning more of the family income didn’t buffer mothers from employment loss.</span>
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<h2>The pandemic-pummelled mothers</h2>
<p>These findings build on our previous research showing US mothers’ employment was hit hard during the pandemic. </p>
<p>At the start of the pandemic, our previous research found nearly 250,000 more mothers than fathers <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2378023120947997">exited employment</a> from February to April 2020.</p>
<p>We also found in prior studies that US mothers with children aged five or under reduced their work time <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7361447/">four to five times more</a> than equivalent fathers.</p>
<p>We also showed that in-person learning in the latter part of 2020 <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/08912432211001300?te=1&nl=nyt-parenting&emc=edit_ptg_20210324">was lower</a> in US districts with higher proportions of Black and Hispanic students. Remote learning across the <a href="https://www.rsfjournal.org/content/rsfjss/9/3/134.full.pdf">2020–2021 school year</a> led mothers’ but not fathers’ employment to drop, especially for those with less education and limited access to telecommuting. </p>
<p>And our earlier research revealed how US mothers stepped into more <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1097184X21990737">housework and childcare</a>, causing sleep problems, anxiety and stress.</p>
<p>As we discussed these findings with researchers and the community, one question would keep coming up: isn’t all this just the consequence of fathers earning more? </p>
<p>Isn’t it a “rational” choice to shield fathers from job loss, rather than mothers, because men tend to be the primary earners?</p>
<p>Our recently published <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jomf.12926">research</a> shows that, no, this was not necessarily about who made more money in the household – it is often about who is expected to provide care when times get tough. </p>
<p>Many mothers got knocked out of employment even when they were the family’s highest earner.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541586/original/file-20230807-15-tgnnsz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A young Asian mother works from home on a laptop while her child plays next to her." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541586/original/file-20230807-15-tgnnsz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541586/original/file-20230807-15-tgnnsz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541586/original/file-20230807-15-tgnnsz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541586/original/file-20230807-15-tgnnsz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541586/original/file-20230807-15-tgnnsz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541586/original/file-20230807-15-tgnnsz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541586/original/file-20230807-15-tgnnsz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Working remotely has been critical to mothers remaining employed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<h2>Where to from here?</h2>
<p>US mothers have now returned to employment at pre-pandemic levels. But we can’t ignore the fact many mothers stepped into the added care of the pandemic while also trying to maintain their work lives. Many couldn’t and employment dropped. Others experienced significant <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/py8bj/">earnings losses</a> even while remaining employed. </p>
<p>For those with the option to work remotely – who are largely employed in professional jobs – this benefit was and remains critical to their ability to hold onto their job. Despite this, employers are increasingly removing this lifeline and demanding a return to the workplace.</p>
<p>These lessons also extend to other Western nations. In Australia, for example, <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1097184X21990737">mothers</a> picked up more housework and childcare at the expense of their health and wellbeing (as did <a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-forced-australian-fathers-to-do-more-at-home-but-at-the-same-cost-mothers-have-long-endured-154834">fathers</a>). Australian workers want <a href="https://www.work-futures.org/publications">remote work to remain</a> which has long been critical to mothers maintaining employment and to avoid <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-great-resignation-didnt-happen-in-australia-but-the-great-burnout-did-201173">burnout</a>.</p>
<p>The pandemic showed care work is critical to our lives and we must support those who do it. </p>
<p>For married heterosexual mothers, this means acknowledging the tolls of the pandemic and ensuring access for all in relevant occupations to critical resources like telecommuting.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/yet-again-the-census-shows-women-are-doing-more-housework-now-is-the-time-to-invest-in-interventions-185488">Yet again, the census shows women are doing more housework. Now is the time to invest in interventions</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210897/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leah Ruppanner receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Liana Christin Landivar is a senior researcher at the US Department of Labor. Views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the US Department of Labor.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Caitlyn Collins and William Scarborough do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>With dads being the primary earners in many heterosexual households, it was often the mother who gave up work to manage extra work at home during the pandemic. But what about heterosexual households where the mother was the primary earner?Leah Ruppanner, Professor of Sociology and Founding Director of The Future of Work Lab, The University of MelbourneCaitlyn Collins, Associate Professor of Sociology, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. LouisLiana Christin Landivar, Faculty Affiliate, University of MarylandWilliam Scarborough, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of North TexasLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2070192023-06-05T20:04:29Z2023-06-05T20:04:29ZLabor plans to stamp out the exploitation of migrant workers, but it won’t succeed until we treat it like tax avoidance<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530011/original/file-20230605-230625-emhjch.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=268%2C80%2C1687%2C916&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The exploitation of migrants is widespread in Australia. Our recent report for the Grattan Institute, <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/short-changed-how-to-stop-the-exploitation-of-migrant-workers-in-australia/">Short-changed</a>, found that as many as one in six migrant workers are paid less than the national minimum wage, which is meant to be the least a worker in Australia can be paid.</p>
<p>Underpayment is also a significant problem for preexisting workers – we
estimate that between 3% and 9% of all employees are paid less than the minimum wage – but it is far more common among migrants.</p>
<p>Migrants are also more likely to miss out on their superannuation, overtime and paid leave. Some face unsafe workplaces and sexual harassment. </p>
<p>Now the Albanese government is acting. Today, Immigration Minister Andrew Giles announced <a href="https://minister.homeaffairs.gov.au/AndrewGiles/Pages/albanese-govt-to-tackle-worker-exploitation.aspx">a package of reforms</a> to help stamp out the exploitation of migrant workers. We think it will help, but alone it’s not enough.</p>
<h2>Protections for temporary visa holders</h2>
<p>Many temporary visa holders put up with mistreatment out of fear their visas will be cancelled if they are working in breach of visa rules, or that they will lose their pathway to permanent residency. </p>
<p>That’s why the government will strengthen the <a href="https://www.fairwork.gov.au/find-help-for/visa-holders-migrants/visa-protections-the-assurance-protocol">assurance protocol</a>, which is supposed to protect exploited workers against the risk of their visas being cancelled. </p>
<p>The existing protocol has rarely been used, only 77 times in the past four years, because it can be invoked only at the discretion of the Fair Work Ombudsman, and many migrants and their lawyers don’t trust the process. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530027/original/file-20230605-19-gqn7mv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530027/original/file-20230605-19-gqn7mv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530027/original/file-20230605-19-gqn7mv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=965&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530027/original/file-20230605-19-gqn7mv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=965&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530027/original/file-20230605-19-gqn7mv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=965&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530027/original/file-20230605-19-gqn7mv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1213&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530027/original/file-20230605-19-gqn7mv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1213&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530027/original/file-20230605-19-gqn7mv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1213&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker: few uses of the assurance protocol.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mick Tsikas/AAP</span></span>
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<p>The strengthened protocol will make access to those protections a legal right. </p>
<p>The government also plans to pilot a new <a href="https://www.migrantjustice.org/highlights/highlights/2023/2/27/breaking-the-silence-whistleblower-protections-to-enable-migrant-workers-to-address-exploitation">whistleblower visa</a>, which will enable migrant workers to stay in Australia while they pursue an exploitation claim.</p>
<p>And temporary skill-shortage visa holders will get up to 180 days to find a new employer before their visa lapses, instead of the current 60 days, making it easier for migrants to flee from an exploitative employer. </p>
<p>The government will also increase protections for exploited migrants reliant on their employer for a future visa.</p>
<h2>Action against employers</h2>
<p>When it comes to employers, the government will empower the Australian Border Force with more funding, higher penalties and new compliance tools to target those that exploit migrant workers.</p>
<p>New laws will make it a criminal offence to coerce someone into breaching their visa condition, and employers found to be exploitative will be banned from the future use of temporary visas. </p>
<p>These reforms are a good step, but the government is yet to act on visa rules that encourage the exploitation of working holidaymakers. </p>
<p>We believe the rules that force working holidaymakers to work in regional areas in order to extend their stays ought to be abolished. Instead, working holidaymakers should be limited to a single one-year visa, which is what Australians are usually entitled to overseas.</p>
<p>And we would like the government to commission a review of international higher education in Australia, with a view to identifying ways of weeding out dodgy course providers and relax the fortnightly cap on students’ work hours.</p>
<h2>But we need to treat it like tax avoidance</h2>
<p>Underpaying workers seems to have become an accepted way of doing business in Australia. Until we treat underpayment as seriously as we treat, say, tax avoidance, it is likely to continue. </p>
<p>Last year, the workplace cop on the beat – the Fair Work Ombudsman – hit employers who underpaid their workers with a total of just $4 million in penalties. </p>
<p>By contrast, the Tax Office collected $3 billion in penalties from people who didn’t pay their taxes.</p>
<p>Imagine how many fewer workers would be exploited if we were as tough on employers who underpay their workers as we are on people who cheat on tax. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-its-like-to-live-and-work-illegally-in-australia-81478">What it's like to live and work illegally in Australia</a>
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<p>It’s little wonder that so many businesses regard underpaying their workers as an easily affordable cost of doing business. </p>
<p>The government ought to give the Fair Work Ombudsman the powers and budget necessary to properly hunt down and weed out bad-faith employers. </p>
<p>Courts should be able to issue much bigger fines to bosses who underpay their workers. Employers who knowingly exploit their workers should face jail time. </p>
<p>Funding for the ombudsman has fallen in real terms since 2010, while the Australian workforce has grown 25%. We reckon the ombudsman’s annual budget ought to be increased by $60 million a year, so its resources per worker return to where they were in 2011-12.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/up-to-1-in-6-recent-migrants-get-less-than-the-minimum-wage-heres-why-206067">Up to 1 in 6 recent migrants get less than the minimum wage. Here’s why</a>
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<p>And the ombudsman needs a new name – we would call it the Workplace Rights Authority – to make it clear that Australia is going to be tough in protecting vulnerable workers. </p>
<p>The reforms to tackle migrant worker exploitation are a big step in the right direction. But until we take exploitation more seriously, it isn’t going to stop.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207019/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Grattan Institute began with contributions to its endowment of $15 million from each of the Federal and Victorian Governments, $4 million from BHP Billiton, and $1 million from NAB. In order to safeguard its independence, Grattan Institute's board controls this endowment. The funds are invested and contribute to funding Grattan Institute's activities. Grattan Institute also receives funding from corporates, foundations, and individuals to support its general activities, as disclosed on its website. We would also like to thank the Scanlon Foundation for its generous support of our migration research.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Trent Wiltshire and Tyler Reysenbach do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Last year, the workplace cop fined employers just $4 million for underpaying workers. The Tax Office collected $3 billion in penalties from people who didn’t pay their tax.Brendan Coates, Program Director, Economic Policy, Grattan InstituteTrent Wiltshire, Deputy Director, Migration and Labour Markets, Grattan InstituteTyler Reysenbach, Research associate, Grattan InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2064292023-05-26T17:00:01Z2023-05-26T17:00:01ZHow did ‘taking back control’ of borders become record-high net migration?<p>Prime minister Rishi Sunak has described the UK’s new immigration figures, showing over 600,000 net migration for the year ending December 2022, as “too high”. While revised estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show this rate is <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/bulletins/longterminternationalmigrationprovisional/yearendingdecember2022">actually the same</a> as it was for the year ending June 2022, this figure is a record.</p>
<p>There are some obvious reasons why the numbers are up, such as “unprecedented world events throughout 2022”, as the <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/bulletins/longterminternationalmigrationprovisional/yearendingdecember2022">ONS points to</a>, and the lifting of pandemic travel restrictions. Special visa routes for people from Ukraine and Hong Kong contributed 172,000 people, and over 200,000 are international students and their dependants. </p>
<p>Who the figures include and exclude massively affects the total, and is, to some extent, arbitrary. For example, net migration could be reduced by a third with a simple swipe of the pen if the government did what <a href="https://inews.co.uk/news/education/rishi-sunak-remove-international-students-uk-migration-figures-pledge-2366393">some Conservative MPs have argued</a> and removed international students from the figures (they tend to stay short term, and most leave at the end of their studies). People seeking asylum are now included (adding 72,000 to the total), but seasonal agricultural workers (38,000 visas in 2022) are excluded. </p>
<p>Regardless of how the figures are cut, the level of net migration is far higher than the “tens of thousands” promised by David Cameron, and seems set to stay that way for the foreseeable future. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/net-migration-how-an-unreachable-target-came-to-shape-britain-206430">Net migration: how an unreachable target came to shape Britain</a>
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<p>It’s notable that these figures come just years after government promises to “take back control” of the UK’s borders. One of Brexit’s aims was stopping free movement from the rest of the EU. On this we can see fairly direct impacts in the latest figures, with less migration from the EU and even net outflows of European citizens. </p>
<p>The trade off, which immigration experts understood at the time, was that this would naturally be offset by <a href="https://cepr.org/voxeu/columns/trade-migration-and-brexit">more immigration from non-EU countries</a>. That is exactly what has happened, although the increase has been higher than expected due to significant growth in numbers of <a href="https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/commentaries/why-has-non-eu-migration-to-the-uk-risen/">international students and work visas</a>.</p>
<p>The “new normal” may be that the work-based component of migration is around 200,000 per year, but that is open to change. Much of this is currently related to shortages in the UK labour market, for example in the NHS and social care.</p>
<p>So while Sunak says the numbers must come down, things are actually working more or less as intended, in the interests of UK businesses and the economy. The increased recruitment of non-EU workers is filling gaps in the labour market and bringing in fees which can run to thousands of pounds. </p>
<p>The gap here is a familiar one for those who follow the immigration debate – between the rhetoric of politicians around reducing immigration, and the reality of an economy which will consistently draw in new workers each year. The numbers are what you might expect <a href="https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/immigration-by-country">compared to other countries with similar sized economies</a>.</p>
<h2>Quality of work</h2>
<p>For migrants themselves, it’s a different story. The benefits of free movement were not only for UK businesses – equal rights meant better protections for EU workers who came to the UK, and the ability for labour to circulate freely. </p>
<p>The new system is a return to old-style visas that are costly and restrictive. They restrict worker rights – to move employers, or to have access to public services – all things that make migrants more vulnerable to exploitation. Indeed, the problems are already becoming clear in the agricultural sector where the <a href="https://freemovement.org.uk/seasonal-workers-face-ongoing-exploitation-as-government-shows-little-interest-in-enforcement/">evidence of exploitation is growing</a>. </p>
<p>Commentators often accuse those who support continued immigration at the level the UK is seeing as being <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/05/21/britain-must-take-back-control-kick-addiction-immigration/">“addicted to cheap labour”</a>, or avoiding the training of UK workers. But the addiction is actually to a labour market which has little or no protection for workers, and no strategy to improve standards and the quality of work. This has implications for everyone. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Close up of a person's hand holding a paper copy of a Uk Visas and immigration application, over a world map in the background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528609/original/file-20230526-25-9nriuf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528609/original/file-20230526-25-9nriuf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528609/original/file-20230526-25-9nriuf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528609/original/file-20230526-25-9nriuf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528609/original/file-20230526-25-9nriuf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528609/original/file-20230526-25-9nriuf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528609/original/file-20230526-25-9nriuf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The post-Brexit return to old style visas could mean higher costs, complex applications and fewer protections for workers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/cape-town-south-africa-may-02-1720231309">MD_Photography/Shutterstock</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>The post-Brexit immigration system has been constructed in a piecemeal and ad hoc fashion. While this looks like it benefits the UK economy, it is short term, further segments the labour market, <a href="https://bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/view/journals/jpsj/30/2/article-p120.xml">criminalises informal work</a>, and opens large numbers of people to the <a href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/rhm/article/view/176707">risks of exploitation</a> and modern slavery. </p>
<p>The new illegal migration bill, following on from the Nationality and Borders Act, makes things worse by eroding what little protection had been put in place through the system to <a href="https://modernslaverypec.org/resources/migration-bill-explainer">address modern slavery</a>. </p>
<p>Ultimately, the lesson from previous waves of immigration is that what begins as temporary often becomes permanent, and the consequences can be long lasting. Short-term “fixes” for the labour market are not just about giving businesses what they want – they are bringing migrants, and sometimes their families, who all need and deserve equal treatment. </p>
<p>The kneejerk reaction this time has been to announce that international students will lose their <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/student/news/international-students-no-longer-able-bring-dependants-uk-student-visas">right to bring dependants</a>. The UK’s approach to migration has always been more about “firm” than “fair”, with a number of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/may/06/at-least-1000-highly-skilled-migrants-wrongly-face-deportation-experts-reveal">broken promises</a> along the way. And <a href="https://www.jcwi.org.uk/windrush-scandal-explained">the Windrush scandal</a> has shown what happens when, in the rush to fix labour market gaps, human rights are not included in the cost-benefit analysis.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206429/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alex Balch has received funding for research on immigration and efforts to address forced labour and human trafficking from a range of organisations including the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) and British Academy. </span></em></p>After Brexit, the UK has had fewer migrants from the EU, but they have been far outstripped by people coming from elsewhere.Alex Balch, Professor, Department of Politics, University of LiverpoolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2060672023-05-23T11:00:24Z2023-05-23T11:00:24ZUp to 1 in 6 recent migrants get less than the minimum wage. Here’s why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527472/original/file-20230522-15-pvc91u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C205%2C3195%2C1566&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>From working <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace/rockpool-records-doctored-as-part-of-worst-ever-wage-theft-20191018-p531wa.html">20 to 30 hours</a> of unpaid overtime each week in one of Australia’s fanciest restaurants to picking fruit while being exposed to dangerous chemicals for <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace/exploited-pacific-migrant-farm-workers-settle-landmark-case-20190801-p52cvi.html">less than $10 an hour</a>, the underpayment of migrant workers is rife. </p>
<p>The Grattan Institute’s new report, <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/short-changed-how-to-stop-the-exploitation-of-migrant-workers-in-australia/">Short-changed: How to stop the exploitation of migrant workers in Australia</a>, show a broad pattern. </p>
<p>We’ve used two nationally representative Australian Bureau of Statistics surveys of employees and employers – <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/methodologies/characteristics-employment-australia-methodology/aug-2022">Characteristics of Employment</a> and <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/methodologies/employee-earnings-and-hours-australia-methodology/may-2021">Employee Earnings and Hours</a> – to find out whether employees are paid below the national minimum hourly wage in Australia, currently <a href="https://www.fairwork.gov.au/tools-and-resources/fact-sheets/minimum-workplace-entitlements/minimum-wages">$21.38 an hour or $26.73 an hour for casuals</a>. </p>
<p>We estimate that recent migrants – those who arrived in Australia within the past five years – are twice as likely to be underpaid as migrants who have been in Australia for at least 10 years, and those born here. </p>
<h2>Underpayment is widespread</h2>
<p>In 2022, 5% to 16% of employed recent migrants were paid less than the national minimum wage. Between 1% and 8.5% of recent migrants were paid at least $3 less than the hourly minimum.</p>
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<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527637/original/file-20230523-39027-wnj7p1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527637/original/file-20230523-39027-wnj7p1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527637/original/file-20230523-39027-wnj7p1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527637/original/file-20230523-39027-wnj7p1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527637/original/file-20230523-39027-wnj7p1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527637/original/file-20230523-39027-wnj7p1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527637/original/file-20230523-39027-wnj7p1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p>This compares with 3% to 9% of all employees in Australia being paid below the national minimum wage; with 0.5% to 4.5% paid at least $3 an hour less. </p>
<p>These numbers are likely to under-represent the extent of underpayment because our analysis only counts those being paid less than the national minimum wage.</p>
<p>It does not count cases where workers are underpaid against appropriate award rates, which typically pay more than the national minimum wage, penalty rates, or are not paid their superannuation.</p>
<h2>Factors contributing to exploitation</h2>
<p>Part of reason recent migrants are more likely to be underpaid is because they tend to work in industries where underpayment is more prevalent, such as hospitality and agriculture. </p>
<p>For example, temporary visa holders account for nearly 20% of workers in hospitality, the industry with the highest reported rate of underpayment. </p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527640/original/file-20230523-14061-1eb99u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527640/original/file-20230523-14061-1eb99u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=351&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527640/original/file-20230523-14061-1eb99u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=351&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527640/original/file-20230523-14061-1eb99u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=351&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527640/original/file-20230523-14061-1eb99u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527640/original/file-20230523-14061-1eb99u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527640/original/file-20230523-14061-1eb99u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p>Migrants also tend to be younger workers. Employees aged 20 to 29 are nearly six times more likely to be paid less than the national minimum wage than workers aged 30 to 39. </p>
<p>But even after accounting for age, industry and other demographic characteristics, migrants are still more likely to be underpaid. </p>
<p>Migrants who arrived in the past five years are 40% more likely to be underpaid than long-term residents with similar skills working in the same job with the same characteristics. Migrants who arrived five to nine years ago are 20% more likely to be underpaid. </p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527639/original/file-20230523-17-58tsxd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527639/original/file-20230523-17-58tsxd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527639/original/file-20230523-17-58tsxd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527639/original/file-20230523-17-58tsxd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527639/original/file-20230523-17-58tsxd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527639/original/file-20230523-17-58tsxd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527639/original/file-20230523-17-58tsxd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p>Several things explain this. </p>
<p>First are visa rules, which make temporary visa holders more vulnerable to exploitation. For example, many international students put up with mistreatment for fear their visa may be cancelled for working more hours than permitted by their visa rules. <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/migrants-in-the-australian-workforce/">Two-thirds of recent migrants are on a temporary visa</a>. </p>
<p>Migrants have less bargaining power than local workers, partly because they have small social networks to help them find a job. They may not know what workplace rights they are entitled to and face discrimination in the labour market. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-in-a-name-how-recruitment-discriminates-against-foreign-applicants-160695">What's in a name? How recruitment discriminates against 'foreign' applicants</a>
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<p>Our analysis shows the likelihood of underpayment is also higher among those working less-skilled jobs with fewer qualifications. </p>
<h2>Without change, underpayment will rise again</h2>
<p>Rates of underpayment for migrant workers and locals alike have fallen since the pandemic began</p>
<p>In 2018, 8% to 22% of recent migrants were paid less than the minimum hourly wage (compared with 5% to 16% in 2022). </p>
<p>This probably reflects the decline in the number of temporary visa holders living in Australia, especially students and working holiday makers, and labour shortages boosting worker’s bargaining power. </p>
<p>But with borders open again and <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/property/dont-blame-the-migrants-for-housing-crisis/news-story/6e5bc846ee02b4216961de785047bc91">temporary visa holders coming back in big numbers</a>, the rate of underpayment seems sure to rise again without action from government to stamp out exploitation. </p>
<p>The federal government needs to reform the visa rules that make migrants vulnerable, boost resources to enforce workplace and migration laws and make it easier for migrants to claim money owed. </p>
<p>Underpayment has been widespread for too long. Now is the time to put a stop to it. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-improve-the-migration-system-for-the-good-of-temporary-migrants-and-australia-199520">How to improve the migration system for the good of temporary migrants – and Australia</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206067/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Grattan Institute began with contributions to its endowment of $15 million from each of the Federal and Victorian Governments, $4 million from BHP Billiton, and $1 million from NAB. In order to safeguard its independence, Grattan Institute's board controls this endowment. The funds are invested and contribute to funding Grattan Institute's activities. Grattan Institute also receives funding from corporates, foundations, and individuals to support its general activities, as disclosed on its website. We would also like to thank the Scanlon Foundation for its generous support of this project.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Trent Wiltshire and Tyler Reysenbach do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Migrants in Australia less than five years are twice as likely to be underpaid as other employees.Brendan Coates, Program Director, Economic Policy, Grattan InstituteTrent Wiltshire, Deputy Director, Migration and Labour Markets, Grattan InstituteTyler Reysenbach, Research associate, Grattan InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2045972023-05-12T14:58:34Z2023-05-12T14:58:34ZHow better local employment support could help tackle UK labour shortages<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525094/original/file-20230509-20-wo9vb6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C44%2C4640%2C3270&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Economically inactive people -- those neither working nor actively seeking jobs -- could help tackle UK labour shortages.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/frome-uk-january-5-2017-exterior-559278979">1000 Words/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There has been a rise in “economic inactivity” in the UK among people of working age <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/employmentintheuk/april2023#economic-inactivity">since the start of the COVID pandemic</a>. Although the trend peaked last year, an additional 420,000 people are now in this category compared with early 2020. </p>
<p>People classed as economically inactive are neither working nor actively seeking employment. They include students, retired older people, and those in poor health or caring for others at home. Helping these people return to work would alleviate current <a href="https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cdp-2023-0001/">UK labour shortages</a> that are increasing workloads for existing staff, <a href="https://blog.bham.ac.uk/cityredi/what-are-the-current-challenges-in-the-uk-labour-market-and-how-can-they-be-addressed/">limiting output and business growth</a>.</p>
<p>According to the <a href="https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/sources/aps">Annual Population Survey</a> from the Office for National Statistics, there are around 1.65 million inactive people in the UK that say they would like to work, but they need support. There have been <a href="https://learningandwork.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Learning-and-Work-Institute-Response-to-Plan-for-Work-Inquiry-Sept22.pdf">calls to</a> widen access to existing UK government-funded programmes and make services more tailored to people’s needs.</p>
<p>But people who are economically inactive are not typically well served by mainstream national employment support. Inactivity rates vary widely between areas, and have done for many years. <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/datasets/li01regionallabourmarketlocalindicatorsforcountieslocalandunitaryauthorities">For example</a>, in 2022 in East Lindsey, Lincolnshire, 36% of the working-age population was economically inactive, whereas it was just 9% in Wandsworth.</p>
<p><a href="https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/social-policy-review-34">Our joint research</a> with <a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/business/green-anne.aspx">Anne Green</a> from the University of Birmingham and <a href="https://researchers.wlv.ac.uk/p.sissons">Paul Sissons</a> from the University of Wolverhampton, shows a more local approach to employment support could help tackle this challenge.</p>
<p>This would involve working with local policymakers and organisations to design policy and programmes. Such localised initiatives could focus on helping people with multiple or complex barriers such as debt, poor health and limited childcare – depending on the most pressing issues in the area. These employment support services could also prioritise moving people into better-paid work, rather than the first job that becomes available. </p>
<h2>What are the benefits of a more local approach?</h2>
<p>Localising employment support could address gaps in the help that is already on offer, while reducing duplication between different government services. Involving local stakeholders in designing employment support could also enable policy to be better targeted.</p>
<p>For example, <a href="https://www.employment-studies.co.uk/resource/connecting-communities">Connecting Communities</a> was an employment support pilot that ran in the West Midlands between 2018 and 2021, as part of a government pilot employment scheme. It took a place-based approach to employment support, offering tailored, intensive support to people in nine neighbourhoods.</p>
<p>In order to reach people who do not traditionally engage with employment support, providers varied how and where participants were engaged. For example, they sought to facilitate engagement by reaching out to people at food banks, community centres and supermarkets.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.wmca.org.uk/media/ztapn44q/connecting-communities-evaluation_final.pdf">An evaluation</a> of the scheme by the Institute for Employment Studies and Birmingham University’s City Region Economic and Development Institute (<a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/city-redi/index.aspx">City-Redi</a>) suggested that personalised, place-based employment support programmes can be effective in reaching people with significant barriers to work. It can also help participants become more aware of, and work towards, employment opportunities.</p>
<p>Other criticisms of mainstream provision are that it emphasises sanctions rather than support. After a pandemic lull, the number of applied benefit sanctions <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/benefit-sanctions-statistics-to-july-2022-experimental/benefit-sanctions-statistics-to-july-2022-experimental">reached 52,000 in March 2022</a>. Most sanctions are imposed for fairly minor issues, such as missed or late arrivals at meetings. <a href="https://publiclawproject.org.uk/resources/benefit-sanctions-a-presumption-of-guilt/">Research on sanctions</a> also suggests there is little accountability for the decisions made by employment advisers.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/media/livacuk/publicpolicyamppractice/reports/Households,Into,Work,Interim,Evaluation,of,Pilot,Programmme.pdf">Some evaluations suggest</a> a local approach that builds more trusting relationships between jobseekers and advisers could be more successful in moving people into sustainable employment. Another opportunity lies in developing local approaches that extend access to support to economically inactive people, rather than narrowly targeting it at those on benefits who are required to actively look for work.</p>
<h2>Why isn’t this happening?</h2>
<p>The UK has traditionally pursued a highly centralised approach to employment support. Local Jobcentres mainly implement national policy priorities. The support on offer is relatively limited, covering work search reviews and guidance, vacancy referrals, and access to some training, education and work experience programmes. </p>
<p>This is also largely targeted at moving active jobseekers on benefits into a job, so will exclude many who are economically inactive. To keep their benefit payments, jobseekers are required to engage with this provision and to meet a range of requirements set by their adviser.</p>
<p>Local councils and authorities do not have the power to implement locally specific employment support programmes right now. Fewer evaluations exist of locally designed policies than nationally designed policies. However, some recent government pilots have explored the potential to pursue different approaches to employment support in different city regions. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Overhead shot of two men in suits facing each other across a desk, one holding an open file with documents." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525095/original/file-20230509-25-wksw3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525095/original/file-20230509-25-wksw3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525095/original/file-20230509-25-wksw3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525095/original/file-20230509-25-wksw3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525095/original/file-20230509-25-wksw3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525095/original/file-20230509-25-wksw3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525095/original/file-20230509-25-wksw3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Employment support.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/employer-interviewing-young-male-job-seeker-533726257">stockfour/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>The Local Government Association has called for further devolution and partnership working under a <a href="https://www.local.gov.uk/publications/work-local-unlocking-talent-level">“Work Local” model</a>. This would enable a more integrated and supportive approach. </p>
<p>And, while not a central theme in its <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/spring-budget-2023/spring-budget-2023-html">2023 budget</a>, the government did announce a trial of an integrated approach to work and health support in local areas. It also promised a “co-design approach” to all future contracted employment support in Manchester and the West Midlands. The Labour Party also <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jan/11/labour-plans-to-embed-career-advisers-in-health-services-to-help-people-into-work">wants to expand</a> employment support, including devolving it to local authorities and embedding career advisers in health services to help people into work.</p>
<p>Recent proposals for local approaches to employment support are a step in the right direction, but they are unlikely to bring inactivity levels down. Comparatively speaking, the UK spends relatively little as a percentage of its GDP on <a href="https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?datasetcode=SOCX_AGG">active labour market programmes</a>, including public employment services. The government needs to focus more on how national employment support is targeted and funded. The reliance on sanctions to push people into the first job they can find is also not working. </p>
<p>Overall, <a href="https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/social-policy-review-34">our research</a> indicates that a different approach is needed. Initiatives that fit people to jobs that more closely meet their requirements, and that also align with local needs, could help get people back to work and tackle the labour shortages that are damaging the UK economy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204597/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Abigail Taylor along with colleagues at the City-Region Economic Development Institute (City-REDI at the University of Birmingham received funding from the West Midlands Combined Authority to undertake an evaluation of the Connecting Communities employment support pilot and they also acknowledge the support of WMREDI funding from Research England.
Abigail is a member of the Social Policy Association's Employment Policy group.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ceri Hughes receives research funding from the ESRC for her PhD research and is co-lead of the Social Policy Association's Employment Policy group.</span></em></p>People who are out of work for reasons such as long-term ill-health are often not well served by national employment support.Abigail Taylor, Research Fellow, City-Region Economic Development Institute (City-REDI), University of BirminghamCeri Hughes, Research Associate, University of ManchesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2019642023-03-16T15:47:20Z2023-03-16T15:47:20ZThree ways the ‘back to work’ budget will affect your finances<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515807/original/file-20230316-16-qc1ez4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=162%2C108%2C5844%2C3899&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Calculating how the budget will affect your finances.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/woman-entrepreneur-using-calculator-pen-her-710912206">Atstock Productions/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/spring-budget-2023/spring-budget-2023-html">2023 spring budget</a>, UK chancellor Jeremy Hunt unveiled a raft of measures designed to boost economic growth and productivity. To achieve this he has overhauled both pensions and childcare support, which will have implications for current and future personal finances.</p>
<p>The Chancellor wants to encourage the UK’s <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peoplenotinwork/economicinactivity/datasets/economicinactivitybyreasonseasonallyadjustedinac01sa">8.9 million “economically inactive”</a> working age people back into the labour force. As the chart shows, this means focusing mainly on those who are retired, ill or caring for children.</p>
<p><strong>Reasons for not working</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515804/original/file-20230316-26-3ydjqh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Number of people aged 16 to 64 who are economically inactive." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515804/original/file-20230316-26-3ydjqh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515804/original/file-20230316-26-3ydjqh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515804/original/file-20230316-26-3ydjqh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515804/original/file-20230316-26-3ydjqh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515804/original/file-20230316-26-3ydjqh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515804/original/file-20230316-26-3ydjqh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515804/original/file-20230316-26-3ydjqh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peoplenotinwork/economicinactivity/datasets/economicinactivitybyreasonseasonallyadjustedinac01sa">Author provided based on data from the Office for National Statistics</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Even if you aren’t in one of these groups, the new changes could affect your finances or working life in three key areas:</p>
<h2>Tax-related retirement benefits</h2>
<p>From April 6 2023, the overall annual limit on contributions for pension savings will rise to £60,000 from £40,000. The cap on the total pension saving a person can have over their lifetime, currently £1,073,100, will also be abolished. These changes target the particular problem of high earners, <a href="https://www.day-accountants.com/news/blog/archive/article/2019/June/the-nhs-pension-tax-trap-and-how-to-escape-it">such as doctors</a> quitting the labour market early to avoid a hefty clawback of pension tax reliefs when they exceed these caps if they work for longer and therefore the value of their pension savings keeps growing.</p>
<p>Pension tax reliefs typically benefit rich people the most. Back in January, it was estimated that income tax relief on pensions this year would total <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/main-tax-expenditures-and-structural-reliefs">£51.7 billion</a>. That’s a fifth of the <a href="https://obr.uk/docs/dlm_uploads/OBR-EFO-March-2023_Web_Accessible.pdf">£249.8 billion</a> total income-tax revenue, and broadly speaking <a href="https://www.pensionspolicyinstitute.org.uk/media/3516/20200623-ppi-bn122-tax-relief-on-dc-contributions-final.pdf">around half of that relief goes to the richest 15%</a> of people.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.oecd.org/unitedstates/35664068.pdf">Research suggests</a> that pension tax reliefs do not increase the total level of saving, they merely cause savers to switch into pensions from forms of saving that aren’t subject to tax relief. This calls into question the rationale for spending such large sums of taxpayer money on subsidising the savings of wealthy people who would most likely set aside enough for retirement anyway.</p>
<p>Instead, it is time for a wholesale redesign of the pension tax system to target support where it is genuinely needed. For example, <a href="https://wbg.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Pensions_-Autumn-2021-pre-Budget-Briefing.pdf">topping up the pensions of people (mostly women) engaged in unpaid caring work</a> -– and in the process a simpler, more targeted system without the need for complicated annual caps could remove the side-effect of high earners retiring early.</p>
<p>A more widely useful pension-tax change helps anyone who chooses to “flexibly” access pensions savings, for example, by drawing out money from age 55 onwards – maybe to cope with an emergency or the current cost of living crisis. While you might intend to rebuild your retirement savings later, there will be a limit on how much you can continue to save tax free. From April, this limit will be £10,000 per year, under the latest budget, up from £4,000 annually at the moment. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-last-two-recessions-hit-young-people-hardest-heres-how-you-can-protect-yourself-for-the-next-one-184783">The last two recessions hit young people hardest – here's how you can protect yourself for the next one</a>
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<h2>Reduced childcare costs</h2>
<p>Targeting the 1.7 million economically inactive who are engaged in unpaid care work at home, the budget includes a phased extension of the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/30-hours-free-childcare#:%7E:text=You%20can%20get%2030%20hours,this%20is%20something%20they%20offer.">30-hours-a-week free childcare scheme</a> for children aged one and two in working families. The government seems to have paid heed to advice to address <a href="https://www.eyalliance.org.uk/government-underfunding-drives-rising-childcare-costs-cost-living-crisis-hits-early-years-sector-new">the woeful underfunding of free childcare places</a> and has said it will increase this - for example, by an average of <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/spring-budget-2023-speech">30% at the two-year-old rate</a>- which will hopefully prevent the closure of more nurseries.</p>
<p>Working parents on universal credit can currently claim back 85% of childcare costs up to a limit of <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-and-pension-rates-2023-to-2024/benefit-and-pension-rates-2023-to-2024">£646.35 per month for one child and £1,108.04 for two or more children</a>. In a welcome move, the budget will enable the costs to be claimed in advance rather than arrears. This removes the barrier of needing to find a substantial sum to cover childcare payments up-front before being able to start a job. </p>
<p>The upper limits are also being increased to £951 a month for one child and £1,630 for two or more. However, this will have only a limited impact since <a href="https://ifs.org.uk/articles/early-years-and-childcare-england-public-spending-private-costs-and-challenges-ahead">few families claim anything near the maximum amount</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Woman and child drawing, close up, pens, paper," src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515806/original/file-20230316-22-wv5m9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515806/original/file-20230316-22-wv5m9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515806/original/file-20230316-22-wv5m9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515806/original/file-20230316-22-wv5m9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515806/original/file-20230316-22-wv5m9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515806/original/file-20230316-22-wv5m9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515806/original/file-20230316-22-wv5m9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">New budget measures aim to help working people with the cost of childcare.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/mom-child-drawing-kitchen-black-mother-435546280">Ground Picture/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<h2>Help for those with long-term health conditions</h2>
<p>The recent budget included <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/spring-budget-2023-disability-white-paper-factsheet/spring-budget-2023-factsheet-disability-white-paper">a white paper setting out carrots and sticks</a> to get people with long-term health conditions back into work. </p>
<p>The paper outlines a plan for more employment support for people with disabilities and health conditions. This includes nationwide “work coach” support provided via Jobcentres, an extension to the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/work-health-programme">Work and Health Programme</a>, which helps people find jobs if they are in certain categories such as refugees, care leavers, homeless, ex-armed forces reserves or are living with disabilities. A new “in-work progression offer” is designed to persuade people in work on universal credit, including people with disabilities, to increase their earnings and move into better-paid roles.</p>
<p>The government also seems to be setting great store in the opportunities opened up by the growing trend towards hybrid and home working. But <a href="https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/news/health-and-disability-white-paper-support-not-sanctions-needed-says-dr-uk">health and disability charities</a> are concerned that these measures could be used to force people into unsuitable jobs.</p>
<p>Overall, these measures clearly aim to retain people in work or entice them back. But the government should remember that ill health can make it very hard or impossible to commit to regular work. And many of those who are caring for their children or others or who have already retired may be doing so by choice rather than because they see barriers in the way of working.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201964/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jonquil Lowe is affiliated with Women's Budget Group.</span></em></p>To encourage the ‘economically inactive’ back to work, the government is changing pensions, childcare funding and creating more support for people with long-term illnesses.Jonquil Lowe, Senior Lecturer in Economics and Personal Finance, The Open UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2008732023-03-03T14:40:49Z2023-03-03T14:40:49ZWhat is driving current labour market shortages and how older workers could help<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512947/original/file-20230301-27-v8fxho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C7%2C952%2C646&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/pretty-older-architect-woman-successful-confidence-1634499616">Dragana Gordic/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many countries are struggling with worker shortages right now as companies in the <a href="https://www.uschamber.com/workforce/the-states-suffering-most-from-the-labor-shortage">US</a>, <a href="https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cdp-2023-0001/#:%7E:text=In%20November%202022%2C%2013.3%25%20of,of%20businesses%20reported%20a%20shortage.">UK</a> and <a href="https://euobserver.com/migration/156589#:%7E:text=The%20Digital%20Economy%20and%20Society,shortages%20have%20a%20catastrophic%20cost.">the EU</a> all struggle to fill job vacancies.</p>
<p>This is often attributed to pandemic-related phenomena such as the “<a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/06/the-great-resignation-is-not-over/">great resignation</a>” or “<a href="https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20211214-great-resignation-into-great-reshuffle">great reshuffle</a>”, when many people left or changed jobs to improve their work-life balance. Long-term sickness also plays a role <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peoplenotinwork/economicinactivity/articles/halfamillionmorepeopleareoutofthelabourforcebecauseoflongtermsickness/2022-11-10">in countries like the UK</a>. </p>
<p>But the underlying reason for these mounting shortages is the combination of a decline in workers aged 35 years and under and an ageing workforce. This may sound like the same thing, but it isn’t.</p>
<p>Falling birth rates in many countries since the 1960s have meant that <a href="https://ageing-better.org.uk/work-state-ageing-2020">fewer young people are now entering the labour market</a> to fill the vacancies left by <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/articles/reasonsforworkersagedover50yearsleavingemploymentsincethestartofthecoronaviruspandemic/wave2#increase-in-economic-inactivity-in-those-aged-over-50-years:%7E:text=adults%20aged%20over%2050%20years%20in%20the%20labour%20market%20continue%20to%20drive%20the%20increase%20in%20inactivity">the outflow of baby boomers</a>. This trend is happening at different times in different countries. </p>
<p>But broadly speaking, it means that the labour force growth seen in many countries, decade after decade since the start of the Industrial Revolution, is gradually coming to an end. </p>
<p>This confronts employers – and society as a whole – with a completely new situation. Such shortages in the labour market are something with which they have no experience. </p>
<p>It also carries the risk that (parts of) society will grind to a halt due to a lack of staff, for example, in healthcare, childcare, public transport, the police and many other sectors that are essential for the proper functioning of a country.</p>
<p>Technology (artificial intelligence or robots) will probably relieve this pressure over the long term. But an obvious short-term solution is the better deployment of older employees. </p>
<p>Life expectancy is still increasing every year in many countries and <a href="https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indicator-details/GHO/life-expectancy-at-birth-(years)">almost everywhere in Europe</a>, but there has not been a similar rise in people staying in the labour market for longer across all of these countries. Even if older people want to continue to contribute to the labour market and society, research shows <a href="https://academic.oup.com/esr/article/37/1/49/5900768">they can feel discriminated against</a> when applying for new jobs or even in their current positions.</p>
<h2>Why older workers might find it hard to get hired</h2>
<p>So why is it so difficult for older people to find a place in a labour market that is calling out for more workers? The explanation is twofold. </p>
<p>In the first place, many directors, HR managers and department heads grew up – like much of the world – in a society in which old was largely synonymous with “worn out”. This kind of <a href="https://www.who.int/news/item/18-03-2021-ageism-is-a-global-challenge-un">ageism</a> applies not only to companies, but also to the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/oct/28/bbc-executive-broadcasters-older-women-tv">television</a> and <a href="https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/hollywoods-intentional-and-harmful-neglect-of-women-over-50/">movie industry</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jul/18/joe-biden-age-approval-rating-2024-election">politics</a> and <a href="https://olympics.com/en/news/50-years-later-kathrine-switzer-is-fighting-a-new-discrimination">sport</a>, among other areas. </p>
<p>The idea that an older person should be replaced with someone younger can even be the case in countries where as much as <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1105835/share-of-elderly-population-in-europe-by-country/#:%7E:text=In%202021%2C%20Italy%20was%20the,Portugal%20followed%20in%20the%20ranking.">a quarter of the population is over 65 years old</a>. Such a deeply ingrained and widespread habit does not simply disappear and is also difficult to prohibit by law.</p>
<p>A second, perhaps more concrete reason, is that employers – sometimes quite rightly – believe that <a href="https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:9eb25e45-ca89-4139-91ed-496f0edf16b4">older workers tend to</a> have outdated <a href="https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol22/32/">knowledge and skills</a>. If someone has done the same work for years, they could be very good in a particular niche. </p>
<p>But if that niche is a specific machine that hasn’t been updated in decades, for example, when it breaks down, they may quickly find themselves sidelined because they have not learned how the 2022 equivalent works. </p>
<p>And while many older people want to build the necessary knowledge and skills to work this new machine, others may be less enthusiastic. Even then, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254777915_Extending_working_lives_in_Europe_Employers_opinions_and_actions">research shows</a> that employers <a href="https://www.vsa-verlag.de/uploads/media/www.vsa-verlag.de-Busch-ua-Europa-in-sozialer-Schieflage.pdf">can be reluctant</a> to invest in <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08959420.2011.551612">new knowledge and skills</a> for older employees. They might wonder how long the organisation will benefit from these investments.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Laptop remote work, training, male, female, colleagues." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512962/original/file-20230301-1750-q3k000.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512962/original/file-20230301-1750-q3k000.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512962/original/file-20230301-1750-q3k000.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512962/original/file-20230301-1750-q3k000.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512962/original/file-20230301-1750-q3k000.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512962/original/file-20230301-1750-q3k000.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512962/original/file-20230301-1750-q3k000.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Developing new skills and expertise.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/black-male-doctor-consulting-senior-old-1854502231">Ground Picture/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Lifelong learning and development</h2>
<p>The troubling issue here is that investment in lifelong learning and development is not standard throughout people’s careers. Participating in training may be seen as a kind of bonus for employees who perform well (a few days out of the office with like-minded people, for example) or a repair of a serious shortcoming or mistake by an employee – a punishment rather than a reward.</p>
<p>Workers should instead be given regular opportunities to refresh well-worn knowledge and acquire new skills throughout their careers. This prevents employees from becoming obsolete towards the end of their careers and seeing their chances of employment drain away. </p>
<p>Organising this would require intensive cooperation between employers, unions and the government. Probably neither party would be able or willing to make these investments entirely on their own. </p>
<p>But it is essential to prevent future generations of older people from being sidelined, even as companies cast around for ways to combat labour market shortages.</p>
<p>Even with a large-scale training offensive for older workers, it will not be easy to break the tradition that employers prefer younger workers. Establishing some good examples now could help to accelerate this process, providing older employees with a new lease of life in their careers and helping to ease the labour shortage in countries around the world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/200873/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span><a href="mailto:j.j.schippers@uu.nl">j.j.schippers@uu.nl</a> received funding from the European Commission from 2008-2012 for the research project Activating Senior Potential in Ageing Europe (ASPA). He is a member of the Dutch political party GroenLinks. </span></em></p>A combination of a decline in workers under 35 and an ageing workforce is leading to labour shortages in many regions.Joop Schippers, Professor of Labour Economics, Utrecht UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1965492023-01-26T17:08:27Z2023-01-26T17:08:27ZWhat are universities for? Canadian higher education is at a critical crossroads<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505191/original/file-20230118-12-zrgl8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C39%2C3782%2C2485&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The University College building at the University of Toronto. Government budget cuts and the race to attract more students are changing the function and purpose of Canadian universities. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In recent years, Canadian provinces such as Ontario and Alberta have been attempting to <a href="https://www.universityaffairs.ca/opinion/in-my-opinion/canadian-universities-are-quietly-being-repurposed">repurpose and reprogram our universities</a> to more narrowly serve the labour market. They’re doing so by adopting <a href="https://academicmatters.ca/the-ugly-side-of-performance-based-funding-for-universities-2/">performance-based funding</a> in the most profound changes the sector has witnessed in decades.</p>
<p>These profound changes are encapsulated by the statements of former Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, who said his government was “<a href="https://calgaryherald.com/news/politics/alberta-taps-industry-heads-to-advise-on-post-secondary-needs">trying to retool the education system</a>.” </p>
<p>Last year, Kenney said government funding for universities should align with the needs of the labour market and criticized university <a href="https://education.macleans.ca/getting-a-job/yes-you-will-get-a-job-with-that-arts-degree/">arts programs</a> which he claimed provided “<a href="https://calgaryherald.com/news/politics/alberta-taps-industry-heads-to-advise-on-post-secondary-needs">very poor</a>” employment prospects for graduates.</p>
<p>It is unsettling to consider the long-term trajectory and the consequences of narrowing universities in their scope to more closely emulate technical and training colleges and the manner in which they serve the current labour market and industry.</p>
<p>Universities already feature a diverse mix of vocational and professional training programs as well as more broadly focused and flexible undergraduate and graduate degrees. There is little to be gained, and much to be lost, by attempting to turn <a href="https://www.universityaffairs.ca/news/news-article/ontario-blurs-the-line-by-expanding-degree-granting-options-for-colleges/">universities and colleges into lesser and more convoluted versions of one another</a>.</p>
<p>Both are necessary to provide a robust and diverse education system. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505705/original/file-20230121-15684-ifczsc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A group of people in graduation robes." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505705/original/file-20230121-15684-ifczsc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505705/original/file-20230121-15684-ifczsc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505705/original/file-20230121-15684-ifczsc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505705/original/file-20230121-15684-ifczsc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505705/original/file-20230121-15684-ifczsc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505705/original/file-20230121-15684-ifczsc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505705/original/file-20230121-15684-ifczsc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Graduates listen during a convocation ceremony at Simon Fraser University, in Burnaby, B.C.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The university’s contributions</h2>
<p>Responding to similar debates in the United Kingdom, former English literature professor Stefan Collini provocatively asked, “<a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/182024/what-are-universities-for-by-collini-stefan/9781846144820">What are universities for?</a>” It is now time Canadians ask that same question. </p>
<p>In that spirit we at the <a href="https://www.uregina.ca/">University of Regina</a> have set to gather many national and international scholars, heads of funding agencies, administrators and policy-makers to engage in discussions on the topic at the appropriately entitled symposium: <a href="https://www.whatareuniversitiesfor.ca/">What Are Universities For? Exploring roles, challenges, conflicting tensions, and promising re-imaginings</a>.</p>
<p>The challenges facing academic institutions demand that we ask such questions, and that we start to grapple with what the answers might be and the legacy we are leaving the next generation.</p>
<p>The university is an entity like no other, and should perhaps be more accurately described as a “<a href="http://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/22777">multiversity</a>.” Urban geography scholar Jean-Paul Addie has listed seven social and economic ways universities benefit society: Being economic engines, changing the face of a city, attracting global talent, building international connections, helping to address societal challenges, fostering creativity and open debate and improving people’s lives.</p>
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<p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/seven-ways-universities-benefit-society-81072">Seven ways universities benefit society</a>
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<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505706/original/file-20230121-7984-rn6w4x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man speaks to a classroom of students." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505706/original/file-20230121-7984-rn6w4x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505706/original/file-20230121-7984-rn6w4x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505706/original/file-20230121-7984-rn6w4x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505706/original/file-20230121-7984-rn6w4x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505706/original/file-20230121-7984-rn6w4x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505706/original/file-20230121-7984-rn6w4x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505706/original/file-20230121-7984-rn6w4x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Universities are about more than preparing people for the workforce. They foster important research and teach students how to think critically.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What are universities for?</h2>
<p>At their core, universities are institutions charged with performing <a href="https://cou.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/COU-George-Fallis-The-Mission-of-the-University.pdf">teaching, research and service</a>. Universities are immensely diverse and quite adept at integrating a variety of conflicting demands and purposes: From fostering ground-breaking scientific research, to transmitting and critiquing knowledge, to supplying teachers for our schools and medical personnel to our hospitals.</p>
<p>Intriguingly, if you ask the students themselves about the purpose of higher education, the answer is: it depends. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2020.1830039">Research has found</a> the way students view universities is contingent on how much the education costs. </p>
<p>In countries like Denmark, Germany and Poland, where governments provide greater financial support for university students, there is greater emphasis on the social benefits of higher education. Universities are seen as contributing to a more enlightened and reflective society, and helping their country to be viewed more competitively worldwide.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-the-purpose-of-university-your-answer-may-depend-on-how-much-it-costs-you-151526">What's the purpose of university? Your answer may depend on how much it costs you</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p>However, in England, Ireland and Spain, where students are expected to shoulder more of the financial cost of their university education, they were more likely to see it as a means to employment.</p>
<p>Canada should avoid pitting these conceptions of higher education against one another. We ought to respect the many and varied benefits of an inclusive, accessible and robust post-secondary education system.</p>
<h2>Canada’s crossroads moment</h2>
<p>Current trends in Canada are a great cause for alarm. <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/220120/cg-c001-eng.htm">Ontario ranks last in the country for university funding</a> as a percentage of total revenue. The government of Alberta has recently <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alberta/article-postsecondary-students-grapple-with-increased-tuitions-as-a-result-of/">slashed hundreds of millions in funding from the province’s universities</a>. Both provinces are the first to subject their universities to narrowly conceived funding metrics.</p>
<p>Canadians must realize that we are at a critical juncture. Canada’s universities should not be an arena for shortsighted and partisan politicking. We urgently need to ask ourselves what kind of society we hope to maintain, foster and create and link that to how universities can best serve that society.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196549/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marc Spooner does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Forcing universities to only serve the needs of the labour market undermines their abilities to educate students and conduct research.Marc Spooner, Professor, Faculty of Education, University of ReginaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1972102023-01-16T13:45:30Z2023-01-16T13:45:30ZBeing a volunteer won’t land you a job. But it could improve your chances of getting one<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503196/original/file-20230105-15-16mdx4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Volunteers from Litterbroom Project, Green Corridors and members of a local community in Durban clean up beaches after heavy rains and winds.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Rajesh Jantilal/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The South African government has implemented numerous economic policies to boost employment since the democratic transition in 1994. But between 1995 and 2022 the growth in employment – <a href="https://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0211/P02113rdQuarter2022.pdf">from 9.5 million in 1995 to 15.8 million in 2022</a> – wasn’t enough to keep up with the more rapid increase of job seekers which more than doubled from <a href="https://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0211/P02113rdQuarter2022.pdf">13.7 million to 27.7 million during the same period</a>.</p>
<p>As a result, both the unemployment number and the rate increased during the 27-year period. The number of unemployed rose to a shockingly high 7.7 million while the unemployment rate reached <a href="https://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0211/P02113rdQuarter2022.pdf">32.8% in 2022</a>. </p>
<p>There are <a href="https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/etrans/v16y2008i4p715-740.html">numerous reasons for the rise of unemployment in South Africa</a>, ranging from skills mismatch to structural changes in the economy and barriers to entry for the informal sector.</p>
<p>But, in our view, an overlooked option for responding to the problem is encouraging people to get involved in volunteer activities. In a recent <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0376835X.2022.2163227?src=">study</a> we investigated the relationship between labour market outcomes and volunteering of working age South Africans.</p>
<p>Volunteering can be seen as an activity that encourages more people to work in the labour market. It can also help people gain soft skills, improving their labour market prospects. International studies have shown that volunteers <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/136465">enjoy higher earnings</a>.</p>
<p>This motivated our study into what has been happening to volunteers in South Africa.</p>
<p>We found that volunteers were associated with a higher likelihood of participating in the labour force compared with those who didn’t volunteer. This was even though there was no strong indication that volunteers enjoyed relatively greater employment probability. In other words, volunteers were more likely to be looking for work than non-volunteers, but were not much more likely to actually get work.</p>
<h2>What’s known about volunteers</h2>
<p>The South African government conducted the first Volunteer Activities Survey in 2010. It was done again in 2014 and 2018. We used data from all three. </p>
<p>The data enabled us to set out the personal characteristics of volunteers and the different activities they got involved in. By running econometric analysis we were also able to gain insights into the association between labour market status and volunteering.</p>
<p>The survey’s main aim was to ensure accurate data was collected on the profile of volunteers and estimate the economic value of volunteer opportunities. The data has rarely been used by scholars and researchers to examine the activities of volunteers and how they fare in the labour market. </p>
<p>The sample for the survey was linked to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey which took place at the same time. It was therefore possible to examine the labour market status and labour market activities of the volunteers (if they were employed) by linking to two sets of data. </p>
<p>The surveys show that the number of volunteers more than doubled between 2010 (1.11 million) and 2018 (2.56 million). More than 60% of volunteers were females. Africans represented the greatest racial share of volunteers (2010: 71.78%; 2018: 88.52%). </p>
<p>By age cohort most of the volunteers were between 25 and 54 years old at the time of survey, with a mean age of 40 years.</p>
<p>Most of the volunteers lived in urban areas. This share dropped from 67% in 2010 to 52% in 2018. </p>
<p>Volunteers with incomplete secondary education represented the greatest share (41%-46% range across the three waves), followed by those with the school leaving qualification only (about 25% share). On average the volunteers had only 10 years of education.</p>
<p>In 2018, most of the volunteers had spent 1 to 10 hours on their main volunteering activities in the past four weeks, whereas the mean volunteering hours was 15.30.</p>
<p>Cooking was the main type of work that volunteers did. Other popular volunteering activities included elementary sales and services, home-based personal care, domestic work, doorkeeping and keeping watch.</p>
<p>More than 85% of the volunteers in all three waves indicated that they did not expect to receive something back from the volunteering activity. For those who said they did expect something, most expected to receive out-of-pocket expenses, food, experience and skills. </p>
<p>More than half of the volunteers declared the volunteer activity was performed as an individual. Others were involved through a charity or religious organisation.</p>
<p>We also examined the labour force participation rates (the proportion of working-age population aged 15-65 years who seek work in the labour market) and unemployment rates (the percentage of job seekers or labour force who worked at least one hour in the past week in the labour market) of those who volunteered and those who did not. The labour participation rates of volunteers were higher in all three waves (2010: 66%, 2014: 61%; 2018: 62%) compared with people who did not volunteer (2010: 56%; 2014: 57%; 2018: 59%). </p>
<p>This finding suggests that people volunteered to gain certain soft skills and unofficial work experience, and it may help them to more actively seek work in the labour market at the same time.</p>
<p>On the other hand, while the unemployment rate was lower among the volunteers in 2010 (23.9%, compared with 25.1% among those who did not volunteer), the opposite took place in both 2014 and 2018. In those years, the unemployment rate was higher for those who volunteered (2014: 27.7%; 2018: 33.5%), compared with the unemployment rate of those who did not volunteer (2014: 25.4%: 2018: 27.1%). </p>
<p>In other words, involvement in volunteering activities did not necessarily lead to significantly greater employment likelihood.</p>
<h2>What next</h2>
<p>The findings don’t show that volunteers predominantly enjoy a lower unemployment rate all the time. But volunteering at least encourages the working-age population to actively seek work in the labour market, instead of feeling discouraged and ending up inactive.</p>
<p>_This article is based on a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0376835X.2022.2163227?src=">journal article </a> which the writers co-authored with Jaydro Fondling (Economics Part-Time Lecturer at the University of the Western Cape) and Nothando Mtshali (Economics Masters graduate at the University of the Western Cape).
_</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197210/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Volunteering can help people gain soft skills, improving their labour market prospects.Derek Yu, Professor, Economics, University of the Western CapeSimbarashe Murozvi, Lecturer in economics, University of the Western CapeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1961882022-12-14T12:29:10Z2022-12-14T12:29:10ZHow Ireland’s ‘great reshuffle’ could benefit women and older workers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499643/original/file-20221207-16-knhoa9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=99%2C218%2C5899%2C3790&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Dublin's 'Silicon Docks'.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/dublin-ireland-june-6-2022-modern-2175188305">Faina Gurevich / Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Recent global tech sector layoffs have hit Ireland’s workforce hard. Prior to these job cuts, the Irish digital sector <a href="https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/joint_committee_on_enterprise_trade_and_employment/2022-11-23/2/#:%7E:text=The%20digitally%20intensive%20sector%20now%20directly%20employs%20more%20than%20270%2C000%20people%20here.">directly employed more than 270,000 people</a>, as well as creating many more ancillary jobs. </p>
<p>Tech jobs pay an average annual salary of €74,000 (£64,000) in Ireland and cover <a href="https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/a6312-annual-taxation-report-september-2022/">11% of the country’s income tax revenues</a>. While gross pay increased across all sectors in 2021 compared with pre-pandemic levels, tech salaries grew by an impressive 28%, compared with 1% for hospitality workers. </p>
<p>Equipped with superior spending power, these well-paid tech workers have also been better able to afford Ireland’s high rents and house prices – even during the recent housing, energy and cost of living crises. Although, these were arguably boosted by the growth of high-paying sectors such as science and technology in the first place.</p>
<p>These jobs often come from foreign firms. Last year broke records for foreign direct investment employment in Ireland. Multinationals <a href="https://www.idaireland.com/latest-news/press-release/highest-increase-in-fdi-employment-ever?utm_content=231299118&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&hss_channel=tw-44889752">employed more than 300,000 workers</a>, with information and communication firms accounting for 116,192 of those jobs.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1602317356100984832"}"></div></p>
<p>Much of this is activity concentrated in Europe’s “Silicon Valley”, the Dublin docklands area that hosts major offices for many of the world’s largest tech companies including Google’s parent Alphabet, Apple, Meta, Microsoft/LinkedIn, Stripe and Twitter. But with just ten firms accounting for 36% of all the tax paid in the country, Ireland’s economic vulnerability in the face of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/oct/17/tech-industry-economic-slowdown-earnings-call">a global recession and the current tech downturn</a> has <a href="https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-40998803.html">caused some concern</a>. </p>
<p>Before these job cuts, however, continued employment growth from multinational firms has left home-grown tech companies – and many other sectors – with <a href="https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-elcq/earningsandlabourcostsq22022finalq32022preliminaryestimates/">record job vacancies</a>. Indeed, the head of industry body Technology Ireland pointed out recently that indigenous firms have “found it <a href="https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/irish-tech-sector-will-grow-next-year-despite-cuts-to-workforce-1396200.html">challenging to hire at pace</a> over the last two years”. </p>
<p>Ireland hit <a href="https://tradingeconomics.com/ireland/number-of-job-vacancies-eurostat-data.html#:%7E:text=Ireland%20%2D%20Number%20of%20job%20vacancies%20was%2034800.00%20in%20June%20of,13700.00%20in%20June%20of%202020.">a record high for job vacancies</a> right across the economy this year. This means there could be a silver lining to recent layoffs by global tech giants, particularly if locally based talent is freed up for indigenous tech firms. It could also create opportunities for employees that are currently underrepresented in the workforce such as women and older people.</p>
<h2>The great reshuffle</h2>
<p>Almost half (45%) of all <a href="https://assets.gov.ie/220452/f3108990-b982-40a3-9580-cf25d3cec025.pdf">Irish workers returning to employment post-pandemic</a>
changed jobs, with 69% of those also changing economic sector. This labour market upheaval is quite remarkable, pointing to a post-pandemic reassessment of why, how and where people work. Indeed, instead of the “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/mar/20/great-resignation-great-regret-employees-quitting">great resignation</a>” experienced by other countries, Ireland has seen more of a “<a href="https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2022/0322/1287767-great-reshuffle-workers-bad-jobs-conditions-managers-service-industry/">great reshuffle</a>”.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Chalkboard seeking staff to fill vacancies that says: " src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500430/original/file-20221212-108108-k8glwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500430/original/file-20221212-108108-k8glwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=937&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500430/original/file-20221212-108108-k8glwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=937&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500430/original/file-20221212-108108-k8glwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=937&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500430/original/file-20221212-108108-k8glwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1177&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500430/original/file-20221212-108108-k8glwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1177&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500430/original/file-20221212-108108-k8glwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1177&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ireland’s hospitality workers have been leaving the industry for other types of jobs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/port-douglas-queensland-australia-june-13th-2009555372">onlyjayne / Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And while some of these workers are leaving good jobs for great ones, others are leaving bad jobs for slightly better work or exiting the labour market completely. The competition for both top talent and low-skilled workers continues unabated.</p>
<p>This churn has also revealed a growing duality in the Irish labour market. Despite high remuneration packages for multinational and tech sector workers, <a href="https://data.oecd.org/earnwage/wage-levels.htm">recent OECD data</a> shows that the problem of “low pay” (earnings below two-thirds of the country’s median income) is much more acute in Ireland than in many developed countries. At 18%, Ireland has the highest rate of low pay among western EU states. This problem is more acute for migrant workers (<a href="https://emn.ie/migrants-in-the-labour-force-in-2022/#:%7E:text=The%20survey%20data%20shows%20that,in%20Ireland%20during%20that%20period.">almost one-fifth of Irish workers</a>), women, younger and older workers.</p>
<p>Hospitality employees are among the lowest paid in society, typically earning <a href="https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-elcq/earningsandlabourcostsq22022finalq32022preliminaryestimates/">one-third of tech workers’ salaries</a>. Recent analysis shows that half of all hospitality workers in Ireland <a href="https://assets.gov.ie/220452/f3108990-b982-40a3-9580-cf25d3cec025.pdf">changed employer post-pandemic</a>. Two-thirds of these workers moved to other sectors such as retail and administrative or support services.</p>
<h2>Finding decent work</h2>
<p>All of this indicates a change in workers’ idea of <a href="http://files.nesc.ie/nesc_background_papers/c19-2-how-we-value-work.pdf">“decent work” or a good job</a> in places like Ireland. While previous <a href="https://www.rsfjournal.org/content/5/4/1.short">definitions</a> typically included fair wages and employment benefits such as a pension and healthcare cover, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/irj.12225">recent research suggests</a> workers are reassessing their jobs and demanding more flexible and better-quality jobs in which workers are appreciated, fairly compensated and properly supervised.</p>
<p>Elon Musk’s <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2022/11/17/tech/twitter-employees-ultimatum-deadline/index.html">recent ultimatum</a> requiring all Twitter employees to return to in-office work and commit to working in a “hardcore” fashion certainly appears to have backfired. When workers reacted with <a href="https://www.rte.ie/news/courts/2022/1130/1339217-twitter-executve/">the departure of key personnel and litigation threats</a>, Musk <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/elon-musk-twitter-remote-work-b2227679.html?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR2g6J0CgEgB95z9NzKArOgR6Lmq47oDZUmSgxUQSapBO8sCTKV4j9SxcAk#Echobox=1668741952">appeared to relax his outright ban</a> on remote working.</p>
<p>But, despite the obvious advantages of hybrid working for both employers and workers, there is more potential for long-term career damage, unfair treatment and unequal access to opportunities for remote workers. A recent global survey by consultancy firm Deloitte found that <a href="https://www.deloitte.com/global/en/about/people/social-responsibility/women-at-work-global-outlook.html">58% of female hybrid workers felt excluded</a> from access to leaders and key meetings. Also, some research suggests less than 40% of jobs <a href="https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S0047272720300992?token=009FE13F2117ED4ED0D55CC379BE844744331F0836D37F392E03AA40CFE585A1CC39F80A3E5460CB1A13828EDC10474C&originRegion=eu-west-1&originCreation=20221209093214">can be performed remotely</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Close up of the " src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499646/original/file-20221207-3544-93g7d0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499646/original/file-20221207-3544-93g7d0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499646/original/file-20221207-3544-93g7d0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499646/original/file-20221207-3544-93g7d0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499646/original/file-20221207-3544-93g7d0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499646/original/file-20221207-3544-93g7d0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499646/original/file-20221207-3544-93g7d0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Dublin offices of Facebook owner, Meta.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/dublin-ireland-april-27-2018-close-1093814063">Lloyd Carr / Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Where to from here for Ireland?</h2>
<p>Given the record levels of job vacancies in Ireland – even with recent foreign tech company job cuts – two untapped labour sources are right under our noses:</p>
<p><strong>1. Women workers:</strong> Faced with the majority of caring responsibilities, <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/business/work/irish-women-more-likely-than-men-to-be-job-hunting-since-pandemic-study-1.4655367">the exodus of women from the labour market</a> during the pandemic was striking. In the first half of 2020 alone, more than <a href="https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/er/lfs/labourforcesurveylfsquarter22020/">70,000 women left the Irish job market</a>. This trend has since been partially reversed with a <a href="https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-lfs/labourforcesurveyquarter32022/labourforce/#:%7E:text=See%20Table%202.1.,-Figure%204.2%20Number&text=The%20participation%20rate%20for%20all,compared%20to%2058.9%25%20for%20">59% female labour force participation rate</a> in 2022.</p>
<p>But <a href="https://ideas.repec.org/p/epo/papers/2012-03.html">women still face barriers to decent work</a> including unpaid caring duties, interrupted work histories and being more likely to be underemployed or stuck in precarious or low-paid employment.</p>
<p><strong>2. Older workers:</strong> People in the developed world are also living longer, more active lives. As a result, governments in many OECD countries are encouraging <a href="https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2020/0512/1137933-older-workers-retirement-pension-age-workplace-workforce/">continued participation in paid work</a>.</p>
<p>But this is challenging for employers and employees. Result’s from <a href="https://tilda.tcd.ie/publications/reports/pdf/w1-key-findings-report/Tilda_Master_First_Findings_Report.pdf">Ireland’s first Longitudinal Study on Ageing</a> shows workers approaching pension age tend to work fewer hours or part-time. Workplace ageism also remains a barrier to work for this section of the population – while many firms employ older workers, <a href="https://academic.oup.com/gerontologist/article/55/5/814/2605195?login=false">few recruit them</a>.</p>
<p>The world is reeling from recent tech job losses and the global recession. But Ireland is well positioned to <a href="https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2020/0402/1127997-low-paid-workers-ireland-gig-economy-coronavirus-pandemic/">respond to these challenges</a> if it can address its labour market inequality.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196188/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maeve O'Sullivan is affiliated with Ireland's Think-tank for Action on Social Change (TASC) where she is a member of its Research Policy Committee.</span></em></p>The silver lining to recent tech giant job cuts could be more skilled labour for Irish tech and better options for women and older workers.Maeve O'Sullivan, Assistant professor of Decent Work & Human Resource Management, University of GalwayLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1923202022-10-19T20:12:03Z2022-10-19T20:12:03ZBusting the anti-work myth: Most people actually like their bosses<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490436/original/file-20221018-8080-5x5jek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=47%2C47%2C6175%2C3493&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Work trends like 'quiet quitting' have begun to pop up in the media lately — but how true are they to real life?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Do you work for a five-star boss? If <a href="https://www.thestar.com/business/2022/08/29/quiet-quitting-an-opportunity-for-employers-to-help-reshape-the-workplace.html">quiet quitting</a> — a demonstration of work-to-rule where employees do no more than the minimum work required by their contract — is really a thing, I’d expect more employees to be vocal about disliking their bosses.</p>
<p>Some observers attribute this latest <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2022/09/quiet-quitting-trend-employee-disengagement/671436/">so-called work trend</a> to the pervasiveness of <a href="https://hbr.org/2022/08/quiet-quitting-is-about-bad-bosses-not-bad-employees">bad bosses</a>. But as a sociologist who studies trends in the quality of worklife in Canada and the United States, I have my doubts.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/quiet-quitting-is-a-new-name-for-an-old-method-of-industrial-action-189752">Quiet quitting is a new name for an old method of industrial action</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>Even if you haven’t experienced a bad boss, they’re easy to spot in <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/photos/2016/10/worst-bosses-in-movie-history">popular culture</a>. <a href="https://theconversation.com/great-resignation-quiet-quitting-if-youre-surprised-by-americas-anti-work-movement-maybe-you-need-to-watch-more-movies-191113">We love them as antagonists</a> — Miranda Priestly in <em>The Devil Wears Prada</em>, Franklin Hart Jr. in <em>9 to 5</em>, Margaret Tate in <em>The Proposal</em>, John Milton in <em>The Devil’s Advocate</em> (who was literally Satan) and Darth Vader are all iconic film characters.</p>
<p>Watching a fictional bad boss on screen is one thing, but experiencing their dark side in real life is another. Having an unsupportive, unfair and incompetent boss can be infuriating. </p>
<p>Given all the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/quiet-quitting-worker-disengagement-1.6560226">chatter about quiet quitting</a> and the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/barnabylashbrooke/2021/10/25/the-anti-work-movement-is-a-sign-somethings-rotten-in-the-workplace">rise in anti-work rhetoric</a> these days, I wondered: Does anyone have a good boss? How were relations between employees and supervisors before the pandemic and have they since soured? </p>
<h2>Is your boss good, bad or ‘meh’?</h2>
<p>With the help of the research firm Angus Reid Global, I led four <a href="https://workandhealth.ca/quality-of-worklife/">national surveys of Canadian workers</a>. First, I established pre-pandemic data points with a survey in September 2019. Then, throughout the pandemic, I fielded similar comparable surveys in September 2020, 2021 and 2022 to track trends — roughly 13,500 study participants in total.</p>
<p>To measure employees’ perceptions of their bosses, I asked respondents to rate their immediate supervisor or manager on three qualities — supportive, fair and competent — using a five-point scale. </p>
<p>To summarize the patterns in a digestible way, I classify a four or five rating as appraisals of a “good boss,” a one or two rating as signifying a “bad boss” and a three rating as a mere “meh boss.”</p>
<p>If horrible bosses are so ubiquitous, evidence of unsupportive, unfair and incompetent bosses should have shown up in the survey results. Supervisor ratings should have been unflattering before COVID-19 and deteriorated since. But that wasn’t the case — in fact, it wasn’t even close.</p>
<h2>I like my boss — no, really!</h2>
<p>In September 2019, most Canadians reported having a good boss, with 72 per cent on average giving high marks to supportiveness, fairness and competence. Only 12 per cent of respondents gave low marks based on these qualities; the remaining 16 per cent had a “meh boss”. </p>
<p>By September 2020, little had changed: 75 per cent had a good boss, nine per cent had a bad boss and 16 percent had a “meh boss.” And, remarkably, the ratings in September 2021 and 2022 were almost identical to 2020. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man and a woman sit across from each other at a conference table in an office" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490435/original/file-20221018-8895-jeph5g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490435/original/file-20221018-8895-jeph5g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490435/original/file-20221018-8895-jeph5g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490435/original/file-20221018-8895-jeph5g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490435/original/file-20221018-8895-jeph5g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490435/original/file-20221018-8895-jeph5g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490435/original/file-20221018-8895-jeph5g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Contrary to anti-work narratives, most Canadians reported having a good boss.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Digging deeper, I dissected the good boss category and found an unexpected nuance: The percentage reporting a five-star boss <em>increased</em> to 47 percent in 2020 from 39 percent in 2019 and held steady in 2021 until softening only slightly to 45 percent in 2022. Most of that pandemic-related shift was at the upper end — shifting from good to great.</p>
<h2>Have things gone south down south?</h2>
<p>As a set, these data points challenge the <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/anti-work-subreddit-1244507/">anti-work narrative</a> that most workers suffered under a malevolent boss before the pandemic and that relations have since deteriorated. But these results are specific to Canada. Much of the anti-work rhetoric seems to emanate from the United States — are supervisor ratings worse there?</p>
<p>To find pre-pandemic data points, I use the gold standard for tracking Americans’ attitudes and perceptions: the <a href="https://gss.norc.org/">General Social Survey</a>. Then, to gage pandemic-related shifts, I partnered with Angus Reid Global to conduct my own national survey of 2,300 American workers in 2022. </p>
<p>Respondents were asked to rate each of the following statements as either very true, somewhat true, not too true or not at all true:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><strong>My supervisor treats me fairly:</strong> In 2018, 93 per cent said very/somewhat true; in 2022, it was 91 per cent.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>My supervisor is concerned about the welfare of those under them:</strong> In 2018, 86 per cent said very/somewhat true; in 2022, it was 87 per cent.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>My supervisor is helpful to me in getting the job done:</strong> In 2018, 87 per cent said very/somewhat true; in 2022, it was 83 per cent.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>These results make it clear that the anti-work narrative is a myth in Canada and the U.S. The prevalence of bad bosses is much lower than popular media suggests.</p>
<h2>How to have fruitful conversations</h2>
<p>To be clear, the impacts of working for a Miranda Priestly are <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/02/the-impact-of-bad-bosses/253423/">anything but glamorous</a>. It can undermine the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-0625-9">benefits of job qualities</a>, like autonomy, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/workplace-bullying-should-be-treated-as-a-public-health-issue-190330">degrade well-being</a>. Even <a href="https://hbr.org/2012/07/how-damaging-is-a-bad-boss-exa">good pay doesn’t make up for being mistreated at work</a>. Maybe that explains why the negativity resonates. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman in a blazer looks up nervously at a man with his hands on his hips. The man has his back to us and is standing very close to the camera." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490433/original/file-20221018-24-cn5n9h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490433/original/file-20221018-24-cn5n9h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490433/original/file-20221018-24-cn5n9h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490433/original/file-20221018-24-cn5n9h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490433/original/file-20221018-24-cn5n9h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490433/original/file-20221018-24-cn5n9h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490433/original/file-20221018-24-cn5n9h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bad bosses can have negative impacts on employee productivity and well-being.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Catchy phrases like “quiet quitting” cue up a long line of what <em>The Atlantic’s</em> Derek Thompson calls <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2022/09/quiet-quitting-trend-employee-disengagement/671436/">anti-work neologisms</a> that proliferate the media landscape. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/19/podcasts/transcript-ezra-klein-show-sarah-jaffe.html?searchResultPosition=1">Incendiary claims</a> of widespread employee-management conflict, like “a lot of people realized during the pandemic that their boss doesn’t really care if they die,” rile up the <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2022/03/american-great-resignation-hate-work/627761/">inner Marxist</a>. Angry headlines like “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/18/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-betsey-stevenson.html">Welcome to the Take-This-Job-and-Shove-It Economy</a>” are more click-worthy than “I Like My Supervisor.” </p>
<p>But unchecked sociological hyperbole about the dismal quality of worklife comes with costs. It creates a false impression that most things about work suck for most people. That dispiriting vision leads down a garden path — one that ultimately doesn’t lead most of us anywhere fruitful. </p>
<p>While fantasizing about telling your boss to “take this job and shove it” might feel good, it doesn’t do much to affect real change. Instead, the conversation should address the most significant issues affecting workers, like <a href="https://theconversation.com/canada-needs-to-encourage-more-youths-to-pursue-skilled-trade-jobs-190205">labour shortages</a>, unfair wages and <a href="https://theconversation.com/collectivism-not-individualism-is-the-path-to-reducing-social-and-economic-inequality-183205">enhancing workers’ collective voices</a> about decisions that affect them. Moving the dials on any of these interrelated concerns would be an empowering upgrade to the workplace.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192320/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Scott Schieman receives funding from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council.</span></em></p>Contrary to anti-work narratives in the news media, a survey of employees in the United States and Canada has found that most employees like their bosses.Scott Schieman, Professor of Sociology and Canada Research Chair, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1896232022-08-30T02:38:21Z2022-08-30T02:38:21ZFirst Nations workers are everywhere. The jobs summit must tackle Indigenous-led employment policy too<p><em>This article is part of The Conversation’s series looking at Labor’s jobs summit. Read the other articles in the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/jobssummit2022-125921">here</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>On the eve of the federal government’s <a href="https://treasury.gov.au/employment-whitepaper/jobs-summit">jobs and skills summit</a>, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers, union representatives, peak bodies and researchers <a href="https://www.fnwa.org.au/event/indigenous-jobs-symposium/">gathered</a> in Canberra this week to ask some critical questions. </p>
<p>Now we have a new government and a new policy environment, what do First Nations people want around work and work policy? And how do we ensure Indigenous-led policy is a feature of the mainstream employment landscape?</p>
<p>This <a href="https://www.fnwa.org.au/event/indigenous-jobs-symposium/">symposium</a> was hosted by the First Nations Employment Alliance (which includes the Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research, the ACTU, Reconciliation Australia, Kara Keys Consulting and PWC’s Indigenous Consulting). It aimed to </p>
<blockquote>
<p>listen to mob and establish a work plan and strategy to explore the future of First Nations employment that is First Nations-led and implemented.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I attended the symposium as an organiser from Jumbunna and a researcher interested in workplace diversity and Indigenous experiences at work. </p>
<p>Hearing attendees talk about their experiences of work (paid and unpaid) was illuminating. It’s clear First Nations workers are everywhere, but labour market experiences can be <a href="https://www.dca.org.au/research/project/gari-yala-speak-truth-centreing-experiences-aboriginal-andor-torres-strait-islander">very different</a> to those of non-First Nations workers. Existing policy doesn’t always address those needs or relate to the experiences of First Nations workers.</p>
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<em>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-law-on-workplace-gender-equality-is-under-review-heres-what-needs-to-change-172406">A law on workplace gender equality is under review. Here's what needs to change</a>
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</em>
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<h2>Regional jobs and the Community Development Program</h2>
<p>One key reform area is the Community Development Program – introduced by the Abbott government – under which people who engage in “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/oct/03/jobs-scheme-doing-more-harm-than-good-in-indigenous-communities">work-like activity</a>” could be provided welfare benefits. The <a href="https://www.niaa.gov.au/indigenous-affairs/employment/cdp">program</a> is “a remote employment and community development service administered by the National Indigenous Australians Agency”.</p>
<p>The Australian government has already <a href="https://www.niaa.gov.au/indigenous-affairs/employment/cdp">promised</a> to replace this program with one developed in partnership with First Nations people.</p>
<p>“Work-like activity” is work. People who do this work should be paid proper wages, and be provided decent working conditions, superannuation and other rights at work. As outlined in one of <a href="https://www.fnwa.org.au/event/indigenous-jobs-symposium/">seven goals</a> developed by the symposium:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>no community employment program should do work-like activities, unpaid or paid for long periods of time.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Creating a healthy regional jobs market has long been a wicked, intractable problem for governments and policymakers. But it is one the federal government must urgently address so Indigenous workers can find employment on Country and in their communities.</p>
<h2>Redefining ‘work’</h2>
<p>One crucial element of the regional jobs discussion is the need for a redefinition of “work”, to include community responsibilities, care and caring for land and Country (as outlined in another of the seven <a href="https://www.fnwa.org.au/event/indigenous-jobs-symposium/">goals</a> discussed at the symposium).</p>
<p>We know Indigenous people care for Country, and do enormous amounts of important community or caring work as part of cultural responsibilities. Redefining “work” to include these things would allow people to be paid for this work. These are jobs that need to be done and if they are not, broader society suffers. </p>
<p>Paying people for this work is not without precedent. See, for example, the way policy has been designed to ensure <a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-expertise-is-reducing-bushfires-in-northern-australia-its-time-to-consider-similar-approaches-for-other-disasters-155361">Indigenous rangers are paid</a> for caring for Country work, to the great benefit of wider Australian society.</p>
<p>Policymakers could consider ways to expand such programs, and fund them properly.</p>
<p>Caring work done by Indigenous people as part of cultural responsibilities benefits wider Australia by easing pressure on the aged care and public health systems. </p>
<p>Redefining this as “work” could lead to people being paid for it, perhaps through an Indigenous-designed community development program run through the NDIS.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/10-ways-employers-can-include-indigenous-australians-149741">10 ways employers can include Indigenous Australians</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<h2>We have some data – but not enough</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.dca.org.au/research/project/gari-yala-speak-truth-centreing-experiences-aboriginal-andor-torres-strait-islander">Gari Yala</a> report, which I co-authored, reveals many Indigenous people face workplace challenges that non-Indigenous workers do not.</p>
<p>Gari Yala, which means “speak the truth” in the Wiradjuri language, involved a survey of 1,033 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander workers. It found:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>38% reported being treated unfairly because of their Indigenous background sometimes, often or all the time</p></li>
<li><p>44% reported hearing racial slurs sometimes, often or all the time</p></li>
<li><p>59% reported comments about the way they look or “should” look as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person</p></li>
<li><p>only one in three had the workplace support required when they experienced racism.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>If these experiences recorded by people in paid work are any indication, there are clear problems with the way the labour market is experienced by many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers. Those in unpaid “work-like” jobs (via the Community Development Program) may also have had such experiences, or worse – but without high quality data on this question, we cannot say for sure. </p>
<p>The lack of proper data on First Nations workers – their numbers, pay, working conditions and experiences more generally – is a reccurring theme. The onus is on unions and governments to start collecting these data. </p>
<p>For example, we know anecdotally Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are concentrated in the health, education and care sector but we don’t have very good statistics on this. That makes it hard to identify what exact policy changes are needed.</p>
<p>The recent discussion about industry-wide bargaining could theoretically improve wages for Indigenous workers, but again we need to know more about where they are, their pay and working conditions. We must find the gaps so we can address them via Indigenous-designed policy.</p>
<p>First Nations workers are everywhere, working in mainstream employment, as your coworkers and staff. Australia needs industrial policy reflecting this fact, and Indigenous-led policy design to meet the needs of First Nations workers.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189623/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nareen Young is a member of the NTEU and the ALP.
</span></em></p>One crucial element of the regional jobs discussion is the need for a redefinition of ‘work’, to include community responsibilities, care and caring for land and Country.Nareen Young, Industry Professor, Jumbunna Institute of Education and Research, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1855662022-06-26T12:12:00Z2022-06-26T12:12:00ZAmid a red-hot summer job market, teenaged workers need to keep health and safety in mind<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470865/original/file-20220624-15980-qmxx41.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C5482%2C3646&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Many seasonal businesses are struggling to find enough workers again this summer.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Matt Slocum)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As a child and youth studies researcher, I’m interested in the relationship between teenagers and work. After two years of lockdowns that <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/youth-employment-summer-jobs-1.6018151">kept many teens from working</a>, the current labour shortage offers many <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/world/canada-teenagers-being-hired-by-businesses-to-tackle-labour-shortage/ar-AAYuSVJ">exciting job opportunities for them this summer</a>. This may be especially welcome news for those who have had a harder time finding work, such as younger and <a href="https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/people-color-employment-disparities-start-early">racialized teens</a>.</p>
<p>Grade eight student Miriam, the daughter of one of my colleagues, shared her excitement with me about entering the workforce. She is keen to draw on her babysitting experience in her new job as a junior counsellor at a summer day camp: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I feel excited but also nervous. I’ve never worked (in a formal job) before. But I know I’m lucky to get it… I think it will be cool and interesting but also hard and tiring. I think I’ll really like it and I know I’ll like making my own money and meeting new friends.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Early part-time work offers many opportunities for teens: earning money, <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-teenage-jobs-are-good-for-your-kids-86181">building skills and career networks</a>, <a href="https://tupress.temple.edu/book/1027">developing friendships</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1099-0860.2006.00030.x">fostering confidence and independence</a>. And teens themselves generally have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0907568218758148">positive feelings about early, part-time work</a>.</p>
<h2>Young workers are vulnerable</h2>
<p>There are also issues that arise with early work, and a key one is health and safety. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0907568218758148">Young workers are particularly vulnerable</a> because they tend to do short-term work, often lack training and safety education, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2006.10.024">may see injury as just “part of the job.”</a></p>
<p>Young workers are also in unequal relationships of power with employers, both as employees and because of their young age. They lack the confidence to speak up, and employers are less likely to listen to them when they raise concerns.<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2006.10.024">link text</a> </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/managers-must-listen-to-workers-of-all-ages-on-covid-19-safety-146258">Managers must listen to workers of all ages on COVID-19 safety</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Parents often feel positively about their children working, leading to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-14-1021">some downplaying potential risks</a>. Threads of Life, a Canadian charity that supports families after a workplace fatality, found that two-thirds of businesses in Canada plan to hire more young workers in 2022 than they have in the past two years, but <a href="https://threadsoflife.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Apr-18-2022-Media-Release-Draft-_APPROVED.pdf">only half have a safety program</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A teenage girl and a preschool aged girl colour with pencil crayons on a sofa." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470840/original/file-20220624-15980-bj7skw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470840/original/file-20220624-15980-bj7skw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470840/original/file-20220624-15980-bj7skw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470840/original/file-20220624-15980-bj7skw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470840/original/file-20220624-15980-bj7skw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470840/original/file-20220624-15980-bj7skw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470840/original/file-20220624-15980-bj7skw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Part-time work offers opportunities for teens to earn money, build skills and career networks, develop friendships and foster confidence and independence.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Labour laws are provincial and vary across Canada. In most places, children between 14 and 16 can work, with limitations on what kinds of work they can do, how long they can work and at what times (especially during school hours). Usually for young teens who are 12 or 13, a permit is needed. Teens must be 17 or 18 to do more dangerous work, such as logging or mining. Rules tend to be more lax when a child works in a family business. </p>
<p>Notably, in <a href="https://www.saskatchewan.ca/business/hire-train-and-manage-employees/youth-in-the-workplace/minimum-age-and-workplace-restrictions">Saskatchewan</a> and <a href="https://www.gov.mb.ca/labour/standards/doc,young-workers,factsheet.html">Manitoba</a>, children between 13 and 15 must complete a Young Worker Readiness Certificate Course before working. <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-young-workers-safety-labour-law-review-1.6490172">Québec is currently re-evaluating its laws around children’s work</a> in the face of rising accidents among teens under 16, and the B.C. government <a href="https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2021LBR0027-001400">recently toughened up their rules around early work</a>. </p>
<h2>Teens’ experiences with work</h2>
<p>My research team conducted <a href="https://brocku.ca/social-sciences/child-and-youth-studies/people-in-our-department/rebecca-raby/first-jobs/#1582582952382-0cae60ea-1801">in-depth interviews with young workers under 16</a> in a range of jobs in Ontario and B.C. We also conducted over 200 surveys with grade nine students in Ontario and held 14 focus groups with some of these students. We sought their experiences, thoughts on early work and how they might respond to work-related challenges. </p>
<p>We learned that, while Canadian governments rarely collect data on working children under 15, many young teens work. They babysit, deliver papers, ump baseball games, sell products and do many other jobs. A small portion even work very long hours. Others want to work, but are unsure how to find a job.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A child riding a bicycle and holding a newspaper" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470838/original/file-20220624-26-8wkd5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470838/original/file-20220624-26-8wkd5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470838/original/file-20220624-26-8wkd5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470838/original/file-20220624-26-8wkd5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470838/original/file-20220624-26-8wkd5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470838/original/file-20220624-26-8wkd5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470838/original/file-20220624-26-8wkd5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Many young teens work by babysitting, delivering papers, umpiring baseball games and more.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We asked the students about how they would handle unsafe work conditions. Some said they would ask peers for guidance. Given that many teens have had little work experience over the last few years, this inclination suggests that teens will be talking to other inexperienced peers. </p>
<p>A number of our participants were also reluctant to say no to unsafe work and did not know they have the right to refuse unsafe work. Most had not yet taken the Ontario grade 10 secondary course that addresses workplace rights and safety. </p>
<h2>Parents need to protect teens</h2>
<p>It is exciting that young workers have the chance to start early employment this summer, but many may be insufficiently prepared. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0907568218758148">Parents play an important role in supporting their working children</a>, from taking them to work to counselling them when work intrudes on school. </p>
<p>Parents need to ask and advise about safety and fairness in their children’s new workplaces. Employers need to listen to young workers’ concerns and ensure that new workers receive sufficient, repeated safety information. Young people themselves need to pay attention to safety precautions, and bravely speak up if a situation feels unsafe or unfair.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185566/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca Raby has received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Brock University's Council for Research in the Social Sciences, Brock University's Social Justice Research Institute; and Western University's Faculty of Social Science.</span></em></p>Young workers are particularly vulnerable in the workplace because they tend to do short-term work, often lack training and safety education, and may see injury as just “part of the job.”Rebecca Raby, Professor in Child and Youth Studies, Brock UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1823892022-05-31T15:06:17Z2022-05-31T15:06:17ZDiscrimination: Swedish study shows job applicants with foreign names receive far fewer responses<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/what-the-world-can-learn-about-equality-from-the-nordic-model-99797">Sweden</a> is often lauded for <a href="https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/3844">its</a> <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0001699316631024">gender equality</a>. The gender gap in unpaid (house)work is <a href="https://eige.europa.eu/publications/gender-equality-index-2017-measuring-gender-equality-european-union-2005-2015-report">narrow</a>. Wide access to affordable, state-subsidised <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-britain-can-learn-from-scandinavia-when-it-comes-to-childcare-68459">daycare</a>, together with the right for parents of young children to work part time, means that women’s participation in the labour market is relatively <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/employment/oecd-employment-outlook-2017_empl_outlook-2017-en">high</a>. And parental leave policies are <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0958928712440201">generous</a>. </p>
<p>At the same time, among the 38 countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the employment gap between people born in Sweden and immigrants is among the <a href="https://www.oecd.org/migration/swedish-migrant-intergation-system.pdf">widest</a>. This impacts a large proportion of the Swedish population. <a href="https://www.scb.se/en/finding-statistics/statistics-by-subject-area/population/population-composition/population-statistics/pong/tables-and-graphs/yearly-statistics--the-whole-country/population-in-sweden-by-countryregion-of-birth-citizenship-and-swedishforeign-background-31-december-2021/">One in five</a> people in Sweden were born abroad and an even larger share of Swedes have at least one foreign-born parent. </p>
<p>To understand this dichotomy, my colleagues and I looked at how discrimination in the Swedish labour market varies by gender, ethnicity and parenthood. I found that having a name deemed to sound foreign results in applicants receiving far fewer responses than people with typically Swedish-sounding names. </p>
<h2>Correspondance audit of the labour market</h2>
<p>To study hiring discrimination, you can ask workers about their personal, and subjective, experiences. However, using only survey or register data to adequately measure discrimination across the labour market is difficult, if not impossible. </p>
<p>An alternative method, adopted by both by sociologists and economists, is what is called a <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-71153-9_1">correspondence audit</a>. Nowadays this mostly involves researchers submitting written applications from fictitious candidates to real advertised job openings. The researchers then record the responses received from employers. </p>
<p>For our study, we submitted 5,641 applications in response to job ads on the Swedish Employment Agency’s website, between 2013 and 2020. In total, our applications covered up to 20 occupations. These varied in terms of qualification levels required, industry and sector, as well as gender spread and ethnic diversity. </p>
<p>We used common Swedish names to signal the majority ethnicity (white Swedish). And we used common Slavic and Arabic names as foreign-sounding names – these represent some of the largest foreign-born population groups, and visible ethnic minorities, in Sweden.</p>
<p>I found that applicants with foreign names receive substantially <a href="https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1636316&dswid=-647">fewer positive responses</a> to their job applications than those with typically Swedish names. The difference in the callback rates between applicants with Swedish and foreign-sounding names is almost 15 percentage points. In other words, if someone with a Swedish-sounding name sent out 10 applications, someone with a foreign-sounding name would have to send out 15 to expect the same number of callbacks. </p>
<p>What’s more, among applicants with foreign names, we found that men are contacted less often by employers than women. </p>
<p>In a smaller study on a subsample of about 2,100 applications, we found <a href="https://academic.oup.com/esr/article/33/3/337/3852477?login=true">no evidence</a> of systematic discrimination based on gender or parenthood status.</p>
<h2>Discrimination across Europe</h2>
<p>These results broadly echo recent research from Europe. While <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-71153-9_3">previous findings</a> on gender discrimination are somewhat diverse – depending on the country and occupational context – many <a href="https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.5018/economics-ejournal.ja.2015-25/html">recent</a> <a href="https://academic.oup.com/sp/article/28/4/921/6352264?login=true">European</a> <a href="https://www.econstor.eu/handle/10419/245913">studies</a> do <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09585192.2011.540160">not</a> show discrimination against women in general. In fact, there is some <a href="https://www.econstor.eu/handle/10419/245913">evidence</a> of hiring discrimination in favour of women. </p>
<p><a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-71153-9_3">Discrimination</a> against job applicants with foreign-sounding names, on the other hand, is <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0190272520902994">well documented</a>. There are also <a href="https://academic.oup.com/esr/article/34/4/402/5047111?login=true">several</a><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1111/imre.12170">studies</a>, from the Nordic countries (Denmark, Sweden, Finland), that <a href="https://helda.helsinki.fi/bitstream/handle/10138/164589/433_3711_3_PB.pdf?sequence=1">show</a> that men with foreign-sounding names face <a href="https://academic.oup.com/esr/article/34/4/402/5047111?login=true">greater hiring discrimination</a> than women. </p>
<p>The issue is complex. <a href="https://academic.oup.com/sf/article/92/3/957/2235852?login=true">Other European studies</a> have variously not found ethnic discrimination to differ by gender, or have shown discrimination patterns to vary – depending on the <a href="https://academic.oup.com/esr/article/30/3/399/2763433?login=true">gender composition</a> of the occupation and the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0190272520902994">backgrounds</a> (ethnic or racial) of the applicants. </p>
<p>We focused on the early stage of the formal hiring process, but not final hiring decisions. Discrimination can, of course, also take place at every other phase, be that in terms of who gets promotions, training opportunities; who is paid what wages and who is let go. </p>
<p>These findings imply that discrimination against job applicants with foreign-sounding names contributes to ethnic inequality in Sweden, particularly for men. If men with names deemed to be foreign receive fewer responses to job applications, they are probably less likely than men with names deemed Swedish to end up in an interview and to be hired.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/182389/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The research has received funding from the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (Forte).</span></em></p>A significant employment gap exists between Swedish-born and immigrant job seekers.Anni Erlandsson, Post-doctoral Researcher in Sociology, Stockholm UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1825952022-05-11T02:10:32Z2022-05-11T02:10:32ZThe age of hybrid working is here – how can businesses find the right mix between office and home?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461874/original/file-20220508-16-bv5j45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C5682%2C3788&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>After more than two years of disruptions, lockdowns and uncertainty, employers are facing a new reckoning in 2022: getting staff back into the office.</p>
<p>Dubbed by some the <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/back-to-the-office-the-great-hybrid-return-to-work/R6V3XS2WTSWZT5NUME2JCOU4QE/">“great hybrid return to work”</a>, employers across a range of industries are being forced to consider what the work environment will look like for staff. </p>
<p>In an environment where labour is tight, just how much can businesses prod employees to come back into the office? And how can bosses design a solution to meet the needs of the collective after more than two years of work-from-home flexing where individual choice has reigned supreme?</p>
<p>This reckoning isn’t isolated to New Zealand, with stories from the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20220408-the-simmering-tension-between-remote-and-in-office-workers">United Kingdom</a>, the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/2022/apr/12/remote-work-return-to-office-what-is-the-future-of-work">United States</a> and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-04/wfh-forever-two-years-on-some-workers-will-never-go-back-to-the-/100949678">Australia</a> painting a picture of a world that has fundamentally shifted, and the dawn of what may well become the work-from-home decade. </p>
<p>Granted, not all employees can work from home. Some never have, as they’ve continued to show up on the front line in hospitals, grocery stores and emergency response call outs. But <a href="https://stuc.org.uk/files/Policy/Research-papers/WFH_Preliminary%20Findings.pdf">research suggests</a> those who got a taste of working from home are hungry for more.</p>
<h2>Placing emphasis on coordination</h2>
<p>A 2022 report from <a href="https://nbloom.people.stanford.edu/sites/g/files/sbiybj4746/f/april2022v1.pdf">Stanford University</a> heralds the benefits of a hybrid approach to work, acknowledging that most – but not all – staff benefit from a bit of time at home and a bit of time in the office. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/stressed-out-working-from-home-consider-a-hotel-day-pass-150998">Stressed out working from home? Consider a hotel day pass</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The Stanford recommendation is to coordinate the return to the office with agreed days (for example, Tuesday through Thursday in office, Monday and Friday at home) and reassess at the end of the year to create a long-term plan. </p>
<p>This copy and paste plan certainly won’t work for all workplaces but it suggests there is some merit to a coordinated approach.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Woman speaks on the computer while child leans over and touches screen." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461883/original/file-20220509-18-7qymbk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461883/original/file-20220509-18-7qymbk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461883/original/file-20220509-18-7qymbk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461883/original/file-20220509-18-7qymbk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461883/original/file-20220509-18-7qymbk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461883/original/file-20220509-18-7qymbk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461883/original/file-20220509-18-7qymbk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">During the global pandemic, working from home became a necessity. Many workers now prefer the work-from-home option, with businesses unsure how to get them back to the office.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/photo/parents-with-small-child-working-from-home-home-royalty-free-image/1284180998?adppopup=true">Halfpoint Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Fairness as key</h2>
<p>Social connection isn’t the only reason some researchers are advocating for a hybrid working model where teams come in on the same agreed-upon days. </p>
<p>This approach can maximise fairness and equity, thereby boosting diversity and inclusion. Having teams in one place at the same time ensures equitable information transfer and <a href="https://hbr.org/2021/05/dont-let-employees-pick-their-wfh-days">opportunities for development and promotion</a>. </p>
<p>This could be especially pertinent for working parents, who may already face difficulty or discrimination from working flexibly or taking parental leave, and for minority groups that have traditionally been pipped at the post for promotions or mentoring opportunities.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/working-from-home-how-classism-covertly-dominated-the-conversation-162822">Working from home: How classism covertly dominated the conversation</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Fairness, one of the key protective factors against <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/wps.20311">burnout at work</a>, helps to offset feelings of cynicism, anger or indignation. </p>
<p>Decisions about returning to the office should be transparent and clearly communicated. And while individual approaches may be necessary, plans for work should equally advantage all groups – senior leaders and entry-level graduates alike.</p>
<h2>Ask, don’t assume</h2>
<p>What works for some won’t work for all, so employers should talk to their employees. This simple advice applies as much to the general well-being of employees as it does to the structure of the work week.</p>
<p>By engaging in genuine conversations with staff and including them in the decision making process, leaders can build and maintain a level of trust that is <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.31478/202103a">essential to a strong culture of well-being</a> in the workplace and can ensure the diverse needs of employees are met.</p>
<p>While everyone is neck deep in the process of discovering a new normal, employers should take the opportunity to really tap into the specific wants and needs of their employees by implementing a consultation process. </p>
<p>This may mean providing various options for people to give input, such as informal check-ins (face-to-face, text or otherwise) or more formal meetings and forums; this formal and informal communication can be complemented by anonymous employee surveys to capture opinions that some people may find hard to give in person.</p>
<p>This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to launch a new way of working that meets the needs of employees and allows them to participate in the process of strengthening support and well-being in the workplace.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Woman sitting in a cubicle." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461885/original/file-20220509-16-hozvji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461885/original/file-20220509-16-hozvji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461885/original/file-20220509-16-hozvji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461885/original/file-20220509-16-hozvji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461885/original/file-20220509-16-hozvji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461885/original/file-20220509-16-hozvji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461885/original/file-20220509-16-hozvji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">While cubicles have long been the norm in modern offices, research shows the format can have a negative impact on collaborative work.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/photo/businesswoman-working-in-a-cubicle-royalty-free-image/523087724?adppopup=true">Helen King/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Build back better</h2>
<p>While many leaders may bemoan the reluctance of their employees to return to the office, citing a reduction in collaboration and information sharing in the work-from-home setup, it’s worth asking whether pre-COVID office spaces really that much better. </p>
<p>Open plan offices, the norm for many modern workplaces, can actually <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/jmo.2021.17">increase stress responses in the body</a> and, paradoxically, reduce <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2017.0239">collaboration</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/jmo.2021.17">well-being</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02178">engagement</a>.</p>
<p>How do businesses strike a balance between opportunities for collaboration and information sharing, while protecting an employee’s individual well-being? </p>
<p>With the aim to build back better, employers need to consider adapting office space in a way that is fit for connection as well as focus, with multiple breakout spots, intentional collaboration opportunities and quiet working zones. </p>
<p>Businesses should harness the power of hybrid working too – perhaps utilising work-from-home days for deep work, with a “no meetings” rule and reserved in-person office days for collaborative working and catch-ups.</p>
<p>The next six months will undoubtedly be a period of trial and error for many businesses as they look to encourage workers back to the office. Following the simple rules – “ask, don’t assume” and “keep it fair” – may go a long way to ensuring the return to the office is helpful for employees and organisations alike.</p>
<p><em>Gaynor Parkin and Dr Amanda Wallis from Umbrella Wellbeing contributed to this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/182595/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dougal Sutherland works for Victoria University of Wellington and Umbrella Wellbeing</span></em></p>How do businesses get employees back into the office when they want to work from home? Research shows the solution could be a blend between the office and home.Dougal Sutherland, Clinical Psychologist, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of WellingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1813432022-05-08T19:58:46Z2022-05-08T19:58:46ZPoverty isn’t a temporary experience in Australia. We need urgent policy tackling persistent disadvantage<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461195/original/file-20220504-20-66f1uz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C5%2C3970%2C2636&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>We often hear a job is the best way to get someone out of poverty. In many cases this is true, and anti-poverty strategies should prioritise improving people’s access to jobs.</p>
<p>But this isn’t the complete solution. For many – particularly those with disability or substantial caring responsibilities that limit their scope to work – the income support system remains crucial to avoiding persistent poverty.</p>
<p>It may not feel like it at a time of rising living costs, but the incomes of Australians have on average risen substantially over the last three decades and continue to trend upwards – we have never been richer.</p>
<p>However – <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/research/supporting/deep-persistent-disadvantage">as highlighted by the Productivity Commission</a> – some in the community continue to be left behind.</p>
<p>Our new <a href="https://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/4107629/Breaking-Down-Barriers-Report-4-May-2022.pdf">study of income poverty</a> shows persistent poverty remains a significant problem in Australian society. </p>
<p>Looking back over the first two decades of this century, we found around 13% of the population are persistently poor. </p>
<p>We defined these as people who persistently have to live on incomes that are <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Glossary:At-risk-of-poverty_rate">less than 60% of</a> the median income in Australia (a definition employed by Eurostat for European Union member countries).</p>
<p>Poverty then isn’t simply a temporary experience in Australia, and tackling persistent disadvantage needs to be a policy imperative.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461194/original/file-20220504-21-epehk7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461194/original/file-20220504-21-epehk7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461194/original/file-20220504-21-epehk7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461194/original/file-20220504-21-epehk7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461194/original/file-20220504-21-epehk7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461194/original/file-20220504-21-epehk7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461194/original/file-20220504-21-epehk7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461194/original/file-20220504-21-epehk7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Poverty isn’t simply a temporary experience in Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why do people descend in poverty – and often stay there?</h2>
<p>Understanding what drives poverty and its persistence is an essential first step to alleviating it. </p>
<p>Using data from the longitudinal Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (<a href="https://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/hilda">HILDA</a>) Survey, we examined the extent and nature of persistent poverty among the same sample of Australians tracked over time. </p>
<p>Specifically, we looked at</p>
<ul>
<li>why do people descend into poverty?</li>
<li>why do some people remain in poverty, while others escape it?</li>
<li>why some of those who escape poverty remain out of poverty while others fall back into it.</li>
</ul>
<p>We also examined the degree to which the depth of poverty (how far someone’s income is below the poverty line) impacts on the likelihood of staying in poverty.</p>
<p>We found persistent poverty is more prevalent among:</p>
<ul>
<li>women</li>
<li>single-parent families</li>
<li>older people</li>
<li>Indigenous Australians</li>
<li>people with a disability</li>
<li>less-educated people, and</li>
<li>people living in more disadvantaged regions. </li>
</ul>
<p>This is consistent with <a href="https://povertyandinequality.acoss.org.au/poverty-in-australia-2020-overview-html-version/">previous studies of poverty</a> made at a single point in time.</p>
<p>Perhaps unsurprisingly, those in deep poverty – the poorest of the poor – are the most likely to be persistently poor (up to five times more likely than the average person in the community). </p>
<p>The very poor are therefore a policy priority – not only because they are very poor now, but because they are more likely to remain poor.</p>
<h2>‘Falling’ into poverty</h2>
<p>Similarly, among those initially not in poverty, those with incomes closest to the poverty line – the poorest of the non-poor – are at greater risk of falling into persistent poverty.</p>
<p>Another policy priority therefore needs to be preventing those close to the poverty line falling into actual poverty.</p>
<p>When we examined the “trigger events” for people falling into poverty or rising out of it, we found the household’s success in the labour market is critical. In other words, people need to be able to get a job.</p>
<p>An increase in the number of employed people in the household is strongly associated with lifting people out of poverty. </p>
<p>There is also a strong association between a lack of work and the risk of persistent poverty. </p>
<p>Clearly, then, policy measures geared towards increasing employment, and retaining employment for those already employed, are key to reducing persistent poverty.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461457/original/file-20220505-24-cgvjbn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461457/original/file-20220505-24-cgvjbn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461457/original/file-20220505-24-cgvjbn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461457/original/file-20220505-24-cgvjbn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461457/original/file-20220505-24-cgvjbn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461457/original/file-20220505-24-cgvjbn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461457/original/file-20220505-24-cgvjbn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461457/original/file-20220505-24-cgvjbn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Another policy priority needs to be preventing those close to the poverty line falling into actual poverty.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>It’s not just about jobs, though</h2>
<p>But employment isn’t the only factor of importance. Any change in family type, but particularly becoming a single-parent family, increases the risk of poverty.</p>
<p>More broadly, the household context plays a crucial role in determining individuals’ poverty experiences. </p>
<p>Who you live with, what they do, and what happens to them are important. The household perspective then is critical to understanding poverty and designing appropriate policy responses.</p>
<p>The onset of disability or substantial caring responsibilities is also much more likely to tip you into poverty and keep you there.</p>
<p>Put simply, those who are more likely to experience persistent poverty tend to be constrained in their ability to participate in the labour market. Having a job may not be an option at all.</p>
<p>Focusing only on labour market-related anti-poverty policy measures therefore isn’t enough to fully address persistent poverty in the Australian community. </p>
<p>Many of those highly exposed to persistent poverty have very constrained access to paid work, because of factors such as:</p>
<ul>
<li>long-term health conditions</li>
<li>high caring responsibilities for young children or </li>
<li>significant disabilities.</li>
</ul>
<p>Even among couple-parent households, we found the more dependent children in the household, the lower the probability of exiting poverty. </p>
<p>This highlights the importance of child care assistance to facilitate employment participation and sustained income adequacy for families with young children.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461458/original/file-20220505-26-km89qo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461458/original/file-20220505-26-km89qo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461458/original/file-20220505-26-km89qo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461458/original/file-20220505-26-km89qo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461458/original/file-20220505-26-km89qo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461458/original/file-20220505-26-km89qo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461458/original/file-20220505-26-km89qo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461458/original/file-20220505-26-km89qo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many of those highly exposed to persistent poverty have very constrained access to paid work, because of factors such as long-term health conditions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>An unavoidable conclusion</h2>
<p>But even improvements in child care assistance aren’t enough. The simple fact is that, for a significant number of people, income support will continue to determine their living standards.</p>
<p>The unavoidable conclusion is that boosting income support payments beyond their current austere levels remains a crucial pillar of policy for governments genuinely committed to reducing persistent disadvantage. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, this does not appear to be on the agenda of either of the major parties.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/181343/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This story is part of The Conversation's Breaking the Cycle series, which is about escaping cycles of disadvantage. It is supported by a philanthropic grant from the Paul Ramsay Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Roger Wilkins receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Paul Ramsay Foundation. </span></em></p>Boosting income support payments beyond their current austere levels remains a crucial pillar of policy for governments genuinely committed to reducing persistent disadvantage.Esperanza Vera-Toscano, Senior research fellow, The University of MelbourneRoger Wilkins, Professorial Fellow and Deputy Director (Research), HILDA Survey, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1791522022-03-23T19:39:14Z2022-03-23T19:39:14ZGig workers aren’t self-employed – they’re modern-day feudal serfs<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453672/original/file-20220322-16-grm9qn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5244%2C3320&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An Instacart worker loads groceries into her car for home delivery. There is a strong argument to be made that gig work is false self-employment, meaning that workers are not actually freelance.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Ben Margot)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>To understand neo-villeiny, we first need to understand medieval villeiny. The villeins of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-Europe/The-Middle-Ages">medieval Europe</a> were a type of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/serfdom">serf</a> (a tenant farmer) that were bonded to a landlord they paid rent to, and for whom they carried out additional work.</p>
<p>Feudalism has been replaced by capitalism, and a new villeiny — or neo-villeiny — has emerged to reflect the relationship between a worker and an organization, in which the latter benefits far more than the former.</p>
<p>Neo-villeiny still has the core characteristics of medieval villeiny, but instead of the feudal relationship between the landlord and the villein, neo-villeiny describes the relationship between “self-employed” workers and the larger corporations they work for.</p>
<p>Neo-villeiny is a term that has been used to describe the work of <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-business-is-devising-new-ways-to-rip-off-workers-57398">self-employed personal trainers</a> in the fitness industry and has more recently been applied to work in other sectors, such as civil aviation.</p>
<p>But we argue this term can also be applied to workers who are dependent on online platforms, like Uber or SkipTheDishes, for work. In other words: gig workers are the new villeins.</p>
<h2>Self-employed or dependent workers?</h2>
<p>Legal battles across the globe have challenged the legitimacy of gig work as <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/71-222-x/71-222-x2019002-eng.htm">genuine self-employment</a>, as recent court cases involving <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8655148/uber-appeal-labour-ministry-ruling-that-ontario-courier-is-employee/">Uber in Canada</a> and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/10/09/prop22-uber-doordash/">Proposition 22 in California</a> testify. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man leaning against a bike with a cooler that says deliveroo on the back" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453966/original/file-20220323-19-619amy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453966/original/file-20220323-19-619amy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453966/original/file-20220323-19-619amy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453966/original/file-20220323-19-619amy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453966/original/file-20220323-19-619amy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453966/original/file-20220323-19-619amy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453966/original/file-20220323-19-619amy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Without the guarantees of employment, dependent work is both insecure and precarious.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Alastair Grant)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There is a strong argument to be made that gig work is false self-employment, meaning that <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/publications/rc4110/employee-self-employed.html">workers are not actually freelance</a>, but dependent on a single client for their income. This is arguably true for gig workers, who are entirely dependent on the online platform to get paid. If they were truly freelance, they would not have to depend on one company for their clients and income.</p>
<p>As such, it might be more accurate to call gig workers <a href="https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/economically-dependent-worker">dependent workers</a> instead. Without the guarantees of employment, dependent work is both insecure and precarious. </p>
<h2>Working for Workers Act</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/s21035">Working for Workers Act</a> announced recently by the Ontario government is a welcome improvement for <a href="https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/gig-economy#:%7E:text=A%20gig%20economy%20is%20a,to%20define%20a%20performance%20engagement.">gig economy</a> workers. The act introduces several new requirements for employers, including prohibiting non-compete agreements and giving workers the right to disconnect from work.</p>
<p>But there are important concerns that have been raised by those working in the gig economy and using online platforms like Uber, Deliveroo or SkipTheDishes. The gig economy is based around short-term, temporary work — the exact kind of work done by Uber drivers and food app couriers. This kind of work is often precarious because of the lack of a guaranteed income.</p>
<p>The new Ontario act means that gig workers on online platforms will only receive payment for <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-legislation-gig-workers-minimum-wage-1.6366844">active hours</a>, and so they only get paid when involved in transporting a package or passenger. In other words, the time a worker spends travelling to a collection point or waiting for the next gig — both <a href="https://www.tvo.org/article/ontarios-new-gig-work-bill-might-as-well-be-written-on-doordash-letterhead">significant parts of a worker’s time</a> — goes unpaid. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A person holding a sign that says FIX THE GIG" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453671/original/file-20220322-13-193f0d9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453671/original/file-20220322-13-193f0d9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453671/original/file-20220322-13-193f0d9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453671/original/file-20220322-13-193f0d9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453671/original/file-20220322-13-193f0d9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453671/original/file-20220322-13-193f0d9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453671/original/file-20220322-13-193f0d9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gig economy workers protesting against low wages and long hours block a downtown street in Toronto on on May 1, 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Neo-villeiny in the gig economy</h2>
<p>Neo-villeiny is marked by four characteristics, each of which is apparent in the gig economy:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The neo-villein has no guarantee of income: Gig workers depend on the online platform for clients and are only paid when they service a client, e.g., transport them or deliver their dinner. There is no guaranteed income for the worker at the start of a shift. </p></li>
<li><p>The neo-villein is dependent on — or bonded to — an organization for clients: Gig workers are bonded to the online platform that makes finding clients far easier than finding them in another way. The situation is exacerbated for gig workers by the other characteristics of neo-villeiny. </p></li>
<li><p>The neo-villein must do unpaid labour to earn an income: In <a href="https://www.tvo.org/article/ontarios-new-gig-work-bill-might-as-well-be-written-on-doordash-letterhead">response to the Ontario Working for Workers Act</a>, critics have focused on the payment for active hours clause that essentially means workers won’t be paid for some of their labour. For drivers connected to clients through Uber or Lyft, this can amount to 40 per cent of their working time that is spent on tasks like waiting for clients or travelling to a location to collect the client. This is time and labour that is not remunerated, but is still necessary for the job. </p></li>
<li><p>The neo-villein must pay rent: Gig workers for organizations like Uber must <a href="https://hbr.org/2016/04/the-truth-about-how-ubers-app-manages-drivers">pay rent</a> in the form of booking fees and commissions on each ride. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>From these four characteristics, it is clear that gig workers are neo-villeins whose relationship with their platform extends beyond insecurity or precarity, to a whole different level of exploitation. </p>
<h2>The future of gig economy work</h2>
<p>The pandemic has led many workers to reevaluate what is important to them, and has been described by some as the <a href="https://hbr.org/2021/09/who-is-driving-the-great-resignation">Great Resignation</a>. While the Great Resignation doesn’t seem to have <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-its-a-great-time-to-quit-a-job-so-why-arent-more-canadians-doing-it/">impacted Canada as severely as other countries,</a> labour shortages have been a conundrum facing Canadian employers since before the pandemic. </p>
<p>The net result is that there are fewer people prepared to take on this kind of work than before. This is known as a tight labour market, which combined with the current conflict in Eastern Europe and its impact on <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/mar/10/gig-workers-gas-prices-california-uber-lyft">gas prices at the pumps</a>, might well precipitate a crisis and irreversibly change the relationship between gig workers and their organizations. </p>
<p>But with the benefits that neo-villeiny provides to employers, such as free labour and an ancillary revenue source (rent), we are more likely to see an adaptation, not the elimination, of neo-villeiny.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179152/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Feudalism has been replaced by capitalism, and the new villeiny — or neo-villeiny — has emerged to reflect a relationship between a worker and an organization.Geraint Harvey, DANCAP Private Equity Chair in Human Organization, Western UniversityNaveena Prakasam, Lecturer, Organisational Behaviour and Human Resource Management, University of SouthamptonRefat Shakirzhanov, Postgraduate Researcher, School of Management, Swansea UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1772182022-02-17T19:03:56Z2022-02-17T19:03:56ZVital Signs: Unemployment steady at 4.2%, but it will need to go lower still to lift wages<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446957/original/file-20220217-21-o5q38f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=605%2C145%2C1989%2C1202&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.datawrapper.de/_/IlK82/">ABS/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Thursday brought news that Australia’s official unemployment rate in January remained at a historically <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-and-unemployment/labour-force-australia/jan-2022">low 4.2%</a>. In parliament, Prime Minister Scott Morrision boasted of the nation being on track to achieve a rate “with a 3 in front of it” this year. </p>
<p>It’s entirely possible the unemployment rate will drop further. The Reserve Bank of Australia’s <a href="https://www.rba.gov.au/speeches/2022/sp-gov-2022-02-02.html">central forecast</a> is 3.75% by the end of 2022. Some economists <a href="https://theconversation.com/unemployment-below-3-is-possible-if-australia-budgets-for-it-176025">have suggested</a> it could be driven down below 3%.</p>
<p>With economic management is a key issue at any election, it is clear the state of the labour market will be a big part of the Coalitions re-election narrative. </p>
<p>But the story on wages is not impressive.</p>
<p>Real wages (that is, wages adjusted for inflation) have <a href="https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/confs/2019/pdf/rba-conference-2019-andrews-deutscher-hambur-hansell-discussion.pdf">not grown strongly</a> in recent years. From 2013 to 2018 they grew at 0.5%, compared with 0.8% from 2008 to 2012, and 1% from 2001 to 2007.</p>
<p>Australia is not alone in this respect. Growth in real wages has been sluggish since 2013 in many advanced economies. For the average American worker they <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/08/07/for-most-us-workers-real-wages-have-barely-budged-for-decades/">haven’t budged in 40 years</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>Annual growth in real wages</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446941/original/file-20220217-25-11zt3ea.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446941/original/file-20220217-25-11zt3ea.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446941/original/file-20220217-25-11zt3ea.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=247&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446941/original/file-20220217-25-11zt3ea.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=247&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446941/original/file-20220217-25-11zt3ea.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=247&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446941/original/file-20220217-25-11zt3ea.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=310&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446941/original/file-20220217-25-11zt3ea.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=310&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446941/original/file-20220217-25-11zt3ea.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=310&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">12-month growth in total hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses minus growth in consumer price index.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/price-indexes-and-inflation/wage-price-index-australia/latest-release">ABS Wage Price Index, Consumer Price Index</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>There are many reasons for this. Labour-saving technologies are reducing demand for all sorts of human workers, from <a href="https://theconversation.com/vital-signs-the-end-of-the-checkout-signals-a-dire-future-for-those-without-the-right-skills-129894">truck drivers and cashiers</a> to junior lawyers and accountants. Globalisation and international trade have increased competition for less-skilled labour. </p>
<p>What <a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/0022051026976">economists call</a> “skill-biased technical change” – new technologies requiring workers to have more skills – has increased wage inequality. The question is what to do about all of this. </p>
<h2>Market forces prevail</h2>
<p>The first-order policy response should be recognition that a tighter labour market than in the past is now needed to drive wages growth. That is, to get wages up we need to get unemployment down even further – and keep it there.</p>
<p>There is some resistance to this idea. </p>
<p>One argument is that Australia’s labour market isn’t all that competitive – that it’s full of all sorts of regulatory institutions such as the award system and enterprise bargaining that obscure or even break the relationship between unemployment and wages growth.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-theres-no-magic-jobless-rate-to-increase-australians-wages-176538">Why there's no magic jobless rate to increase Australians' wages</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This has never been a persuasive argument. At most these institutions mean there will be lags in adjustment – with the Fair Work Commission reviewing awards <a href="https://www.fairwork.gov.au/newsroom/news/annual-wage-review-2021">once a year</a> and enterprise agreements typically negotiated every three years.</p>
<p>Yet even these lags are less important than they used to be, now the percentage of private-sector workers covered by enterprise agreements is <a href="https://www.ag.gov.au/industrial-relations/publications/historical-trends-data-current-quarter">just 10.9%</a> compared with nearly a quarter in 2010.</p>
<h2>What governments can and can’t do</h2>
<p>The reality is that the majority of Australian workers have their pay determined by market forces, mediated by individual agreements. Supply and demand in the labour market is the key determinant of wage outcomes.</p>
<p>Understanding this helps frame what governments can and can’t do about wages.</p>
<p>They certainly can enact policies that drive unemployment down and hence wages up. On this count the Morrison government gets high marks and deserves due credit.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/vital-signs-wages-growth-desultory-unemployment-stunning-161099">Vital Signs: wages growth desultory, unemployment stunning</a>
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<p>They can also help provide workers with better skills, which lead to higher wages. One of the central lessons from economics is that <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/02/green-new-deal-economic-principles/582943/">people basically get paid for their skills</a>.</p>
<p>Australia’s major political parties could do a much better job of formulating a comprehensive education and training policy.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446943/original/file-20220217-19-1uwyjtn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446943/original/file-20220217-19-1uwyjtn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446943/original/file-20220217-19-1uwyjtn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=969&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446943/original/file-20220217-19-1uwyjtn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=969&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446943/original/file-20220217-19-1uwyjtn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=969&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446943/original/file-20220217-19-1uwyjtn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1218&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446943/original/file-20220217-19-1uwyjtn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1218&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446943/original/file-20220217-19-1uwyjtn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1218&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Apprenticeship schemes are tinkering.</span>
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<p>On the Labor side, announcing a few new apprenticeships is fine but really just tinkering. On the Liberal side, whining about postmodernism isn’t going to provide students with more human capital.</p>
<p>Governments could also encourage schemes to give workers a stake in the profits of the enterprises they work for – through employee share ownership or worker ownership schemes. Rosalind Dixon and I have proposed a “<a href="https://theconversation.com/introducing-shadow-equity-a-fresh-idea-to-escape-the-low-wage-trap-113362">shadow equity</a>” scheme as one way to implement this.</p>
<p>What governments can’t do is turn back the tide of globalisation and pretend automation won’t continue to replace or reduce demand for human labour.</p>
<p>It is futile, for example, to seek to resurrect Austrlia’s car manufacturing industry. Sure, let’s talk about developing new manufacturing industries, such as in battery technology, but a 1970s-style industry policy won’t bring back the jobs.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/an-unemployment-rate-below-4-is-possible-but-for-how-long-175618">An unemployment rate below 4% is possible. But for how long?</a>
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<p>To get wages growth moving again we need lower unemployment, and to ensure it stays low. That won’t happen effectively by just mandating higher wages. It will happen by ensuring workers have the skills the market values, and by keeping macroeconomic policy settings tuned for low unemployment.</p>
<p><iframe id="cccqr" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/cccqr/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/177218/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Holden is President of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.</span></em></p>A tighter labour market than in the past is now needed to drive real wages growth.Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1756182022-01-26T19:07:38Z2022-01-26T19:07:38ZAn unemployment rate below 4% is possible. But for how long?<p>It would be nice to think Australia’s low unemployment rate – now 4.2%, the lowest since August 2008 – is here to stay.</p>
<p>We’ve been waiting a long time to see this. In the decade before the onset of COVID-19 the jobless rate hardly moved. In March 2010 it was 5.4%. Ten years later, in March 2020, it was 5.3%. In between the lowest the rate was to 4.9% - and then just for two months. </p>
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<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442446/original/file-20220125-23-vbh20m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Graph showing Australia's unemployment rate from December 2011 to December 2021." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442446/original/file-20220125-23-vbh20m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442446/original/file-20220125-23-vbh20m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442446/original/file-20220125-23-vbh20m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442446/original/file-20220125-23-vbh20m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442446/original/file-20220125-23-vbh20m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442446/original/file-20220125-23-vbh20m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442446/original/file-20220125-23-vbh20m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<p>In 2021 the unemployment rate was under 5% in six out of 12 months.</p>
<p>A lower rate of unemployment makes us all better off. It means more of the nation’s productive resources are being put to work, and higher living standards for those extra people employed and their families.</p>
<p>Even with the effects of Omicron, there are good reasons to think the rate will fall further in 2022. </p>
<p>The bigger question is whether whatever lower rate we achieve can be sustained once all the effects of the pandemic are behind us. This will depend largely on how macroeconomic policy makers handle the transition. </p>
<h2>High job vacancies</h2>
<p>One reason to expect the rate to go lower in 2022 is recent employment growth – 365,000 in November, and 65,000 in December. With that pace of growth it’s likely there’s more to come, especially given the high level of job vacancies. </p>
<p>Had the vacancy rate at the end of 2021 been the same as before COVID-19, an extra 158,000 jobs would have been filled. Just half of those jobs going to the unemployed would have seen the December unemployment rate drop to 3.6%. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-has-record-job-vacancies-but-dont-expect-higher-wages-172146">Australia has record job vacancies, but don't expect higher wages</a>
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<p>Uncertainties make it difficult to predict exactly how much lower the jobless rate could go, or for how long. That will depend on macroeconomic policy – the reason the unemployment rate is where it is now.</p>
<h2>Government action has been crucial</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1I0R68BHr9ozS8doqtqi53yuM4YArEgGp/view?usp=sharing">big reason</a> the unemployment rate has fallen is due to growth in the proportion of the population who are employed accelerating since mid-2021.</p>
<p>When you think about what changed in 2021 to make this happen, government policy has to be the main explanation.</p>
<p>Government spending on COVID-related programs has added considerably to gross domestic product, increasing employment. </p>
<p>Closed borders may also have added to GDP – by as much as 1.25% per annum, according to economist Saul Eslake – due to Australians redirecting spending from international travel to domestic consumption.</p>
<p>What follows is that a low rate of unemployment will depend on the policy makers being willing to continue to provide stimulus to economic activity.</p>
<h2>An opposing force</h2>
<p>One headwind blowing the unemployment rate higher may be faster growth in the labour-force participation rate, which measures the proportion of the population who want to work. </p>
<p>Before COVID-19 the participation rate had been increasing rapidly. With COVID-19 it slowed, due to reasons such as parents having to withdraw from the labour force to care for children.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442448/original/file-20220125-13-p9rn2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="ABS labour force participatin rate, December 2021." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442448/original/file-20220125-13-p9rn2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442448/original/file-20220125-13-p9rn2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442448/original/file-20220125-13-p9rn2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442448/original/file-20220125-13-p9rn2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442448/original/file-20220125-13-p9rn2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442448/original/file-20220125-13-p9rn2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442448/original/file-20220125-13-p9rn2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<p>Should growth in the labour-force participation rate return to its previous pace once the impact of COVID-19 recedes, the rate of unemployment will be pushed back up.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/just-4-5-during-lockdowns-the-unemployment-rate-is-now-meaningless-167805">Just 4.5% during lockdowns? The unemployment rate is now meaningless</a>
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<h2>Statistics for young workers</h2>
<p>Issues to do with measurement may also be temporarily making the rate of unemployment artificially low. </p>
<p>The strongest employment growth from March 2020 to December 2021 was for those aged 15 to 24 years. </p>
<p>Younger workers were hardest hit during the 2020 downturns associated with COVID-19. But by December 2021 the proportion of young people employed was 3.5 percentage points higher than in March 2020. This compares with the employment rate being 1.2 percentage points higher than before the pandemic for those aged 25-64 years, and 0.9 percentage points higher for those 65 years and older. </p>
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<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442655/original/file-20220126-19-wilsxv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Percentage change in proportion of people employed, by age, since March 2020." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442655/original/file-20220126-19-wilsxv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442655/original/file-20220126-19-wilsxv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442655/original/file-20220126-19-wilsxv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442655/original/file-20220126-19-wilsxv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442655/original/file-20220126-19-wilsxv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442655/original/file-20220126-19-wilsxv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442655/original/file-20220126-19-wilsxv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<p>The strength of employment growth for the young – given all we know about the increasing difficulties they faced in the labour market in the 2010s – is surprising.</p>
<p>My guess is it may in part be due to young Australian permanent residents taking over jobs previously held by international students and working holiday makers, and being more likely to be captured in official surveys. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-economy-cant-guarantee-a-job-it-can-guarantee-a-liveable-income-for-other-work-153444">The economy can't guarantee a job. It can guarantee a liveable income for other work</a>
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<p>In that case, total employment of the young may not actually have changed by much, but the statistics show it increasing because of who is doing the work.</p>
<p>Before COVID-19 we could reasonably have expected the rate of unemployment today to be 5%. Instead, we’re at 4.2% and looking ahead in 2022 to further falls in unemployment. What lies beyond that is less certain.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175618/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jeff Borland receives funding from the Australian Research Council. He is a Board member of the Committee for Economic Development of Australia.</span></em></p>There is enough momentum for Australia’s unemployment rate to go lower than 4.2% in 2022. Keeping it low is another matter.Jeff Borland, Professor of Economics, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1731522021-12-06T19:06:21Z2021-12-06T19:06:21ZGraduates lose pay advantage in tougher times, but overall workforce entrants seem surprisingly satisfied<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435768/original/file-20211206-13-1qe9pfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6118%2C4082&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Around 400,000 people under the age of 25 leave full-time education and embark on their careers each year. The latest <a href="https://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/hilda/publications/hilda-statistical-reports">HILDA Survey Statistical Report</a>, released today, shows how they have been faring since 2001. Full-time work has become harder, and the pay advantage university graduates enjoy has decreased. Yet, overall, new recruits to the workforce remain at least as happy with their jobs as they have been over the past two decades.</p>
<p>Over most of this century, and probably much of the 20th century, getting a foothold in the labour market and progressing up the career ladder has been a significant challenge for these young people. </p>
<p>Today, about 40% find full-time work in their first year out of full-time education. A further 35-40% get part-time work. </p>
<p>Their median hourly earnings are about two-thirds of median earnings of all workers. But, because many don’t have full-time jobs, their median weekly earnings are just over half those of the median worker.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/students-choice-of-university-has-no-effect-on-new-graduate-pay-and-a-small-impact-later-on-what-they-study-matters-more-171491">Students' choice of university has no effect on new graduate pay, and a small impact later on. What they study matters more</a>
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<p>Five years after entering the workforce, about 85% are employed, two-thirds of them full-time. Earnings have also increased relative to the median worker five years after entry, but remain about 10% lower. </p>
<p>The educational attainment of young new entrants has increased considerably since 2001. The proportion with a university degree has increased from 15% in the early 2000s to 23% in recent years. The proportion who did not complete high school has halved from 24% to 12%. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1446723351414726660"}"></div></p>
<h2>Poorer rewards for better qualifications</h2>
<p>Despite having better qualifications, young people’s employment outcomes and trajectories have not improved at all. Indeed, since the boom years before the global financial crisis (GFC), there has been a marked deterioration.</p>
<p>Full-time employment in the year of labour market entry has fallen from 50% to 41%. Unemployment has risen from 8.4% to 11.2%. Full-time employment rates in the following years have similarly fallen.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/1-in-4-unemployed-australians-has-a-degree-how-did-we-get-to-this-point-156867">1 in 4 unemployed Australians has a degree. How did we get to this point?</a>
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<p>The fall was most dramatic between the pre-GFC boom years (2004-2007) and the 2012-2015 period, and has been especially large for university graduates. </p>
<p>Those graduating in the pre-GFC boom years had a full-time employment rate of 68%. This fell to 53% for those graduating between 2012 and 2015.</p>
<p>In the boom years, graduates’ median earnings were 97% of overall median earnings in the year after graduation. By 2012-15, that proportion had fallen to only 82%. </p>
<p>There has since been a slight improvement. Some 56% of those who graduated between 2016 and 2018 were employed full-time in the year following graduation. However, outcomes for graduates were still considerably down on the early years of this century. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435788/original/file-20211206-68670-1ox6ut3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Vertical bar chart showing new graduates' rates of full-time employment and earnings compared to other workers, 2004-18" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435788/original/file-20211206-68670-1ox6ut3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435788/original/file-20211206-68670-1ox6ut3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435788/original/file-20211206-68670-1ox6ut3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435788/original/file-20211206-68670-1ox6ut3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435788/original/file-20211206-68670-1ox6ut3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435788/original/file-20211206-68670-1ox6ut3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435788/original/file-20211206-68670-1ox6ut3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/hilda/publications/hilda-statistical-reports">Chart: The Conversation. Data: HILDA Survey 2021</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/want-to-improve-your-chances-of-getting-a-full-time-job-a-double-degree-can-do-that-157306">Want to improve your chances of getting a full-time job? A double degree can do that</a>
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</em>
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<hr>
<p>Perhaps most striking is the decline in the relative earnings of university graduates in the years after they join the workforce. Career trajectories are now considerably “flatter” for more recent graduates. </p>
<p>For example, five years after entering the workforce, median earnings for those graduating in the first three years of this century were 23% greater than overall median earnings. By contrast, for graduates who entered the labour market in 2013 and 2014, median earnings five years later were still slightly below overall median earnings.</p>
<h2>More part-timers, paid less, but fairly satisfied</h2>
<p>In short, new entrants to the workforce are more likely to be part-time and paid less relative to the general population of workers. Curiously, however, they do not seem to be unhappy about their jobs. In some ways, quite the reverse is true.</p>
<p>The HILDA Survey measures workers’ satisfaction with a variety of aspects of their jobs. These aspects include the job overall, pay, job security and flexibility to balance work and non-work commitments. </p>
<p>Moreover, a battery of questions are administered each year that provide measures of “job quality”. These include the extent to which the job makes (excessive) demands of the worker, the level of autonomy the worker has, the interest and variety of the work, the security of employment and the fairness of the pay.</p>
<p>On all of these measures of job satisfaction and job quality, young new entrants report their jobs being at least as good now as they did in the early years of this century. </p>
<iframe title="Job satisfaction of employed new entrants, 2001-19" aria-label="Interactive line chart" id="datawrapper-chart-CjGEM" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/CjGEM/1/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border: none;" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>It is of course possible that job quality has on average improved. Aspects that come to mind include job security, flexibility to balance work and non-work commitments, job demands, autonomy and task variety.</p>
<p>However, it remains somewhat perplexing that, on a 0-10 scale (0 represents complete dissatisfaction and 10 complete satisfaction), average satisfaction with pay has increased from 6.7 to 7.4 between early this century and recent years. Similarly, average agreement of workers with the statement that they are fairly paid has risen from 4.4 to 4.9 on a 1-7 scale (1 corresponds to strong disagreement and 7 to strong agreement).</p>
<p>Objectively, pay has declined for new entrants relative to the broader workforce, particularly for university graduates. It therefore seems new entrants’ expectations have been recalibrated to reflect the harsher reality of the modern labour market.</p>
<p>Still, it is hard to understand why subjective assessments of jobs have <em>improved</em> in the context of objective data to the contrary. Perhaps young new entrants have lowered their expectations too much.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173152/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Roger Wilkins receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>Rates of full-time employment and pay relative to other workers have fallen for the latest generation of new workers. Yet the HILDA Survey shows their reported job satisfaction has risen.Roger Wilkins, Professorial Fellow and Deputy Director (Research), HILDA Survey, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1721462021-11-24T19:05:42Z2021-11-24T19:05:42ZAustralia has record job vacancies, but don’t expect higher wages<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433596/original/file-20211124-17-2o6402.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C450%2C5375%2C2703&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Job vacancies in Australia are at a record level. The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-and-unemployment/job-vacancies-australia/aug-2021">job vacancy rate</a>, measuring the proportion of available jobs currently unfilled, is now more than 2.5% – the highest level since the series started in the late 1970s. </p>
<p>This statistic gives weight to all the anecdotal talk about labour shortages in Australia. When employers have difficulty finding workers to hire, job vacancies stay unfilled longer and the vacancy rate increases. </p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433619/original/file-20211124-23-9ssscc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433619/original/file-20211124-23-9ssscc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433619/original/file-20211124-23-9ssscc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433619/original/file-20211124-23-9ssscc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433619/original/file-20211124-23-9ssscc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433619/original/file-20211124-23-9ssscc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433619/original/file-20211124-23-9ssscc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433619/original/file-20211124-23-9ssscc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<p>In normal times a high vacancy rate would indicate economic trouble. It would be evidence of a major underlying problem in the Australian labour market, such as workers not having the right skills for new jobs being created.</p>
<p>But these are not normal times. This record job vacancy rate seems largely explained by the impact of COVID-19, rather than signalling a problem with how the labour market is operating.</p>
<p>The pandemic has made a roller-coaster of employment numbers. Shutdowns have brought rapid job losses, which have then been regained almost as quickly. Employment in Australia has never grown as quickly in any 12-month period as it did in <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zimUon2yB_MO_kFVTm4EqwmiQYpj5bd3/view">the year to May 2021</a>, as the economy recovered from the initial shutdown in 2020.</p>
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<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433604/original/file-20211124-13-j4azj1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433604/original/file-20211124-13-j4azj1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433604/original/file-20211124-13-j4azj1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433604/original/file-20211124-13-j4azj1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433604/original/file-20211124-13-j4azj1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433604/original/file-20211124-13-j4azj1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433604/original/file-20211124-13-j4azj1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433604/original/file-20211124-13-j4azj1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<p>The high job vacancy rate <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mQn5yF30gkeHL9OFmc1Z9d494YsgVskj/view">primarily reflects this</a> fast pace, and the difficulty of hiring new workers in a short time. Hiring always lags new vacancies being created. With the bounceback from shutdowns, the lag has become pronounced. </p>
<h2>Migration effects</h2>
<p>Pandemic-related limits on international migration - especially temporary migrants, such as international students and working holiday makers – have also contributed to the labour shortages.</p>
<p>At the last <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/microdata-tablebuilder/available-microdata-tablebuilder/australian-census-and-temporary-entrants-integrated-dataset">census</a> (in 2016), the jobs most reliant on temporary migrants in were hospitality (18.3%); food trades and preparation (20.4%); and cleaning and laundry (19.3%). </p>
<p>By May 2021 (after a year of recovery and prior to the latest shutdowns in NSW and Victoria), the vacancy rates for these occupations were more than double their averages for 2019.</p>
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<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433618/original/file-20211124-28-1ayseuc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433618/original/file-20211124-28-1ayseuc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433618/original/file-20211124-28-1ayseuc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433618/original/file-20211124-28-1ayseuc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433618/original/file-20211124-28-1ayseuc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433618/original/file-20211124-28-1ayseuc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433618/original/file-20211124-28-1ayseuc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433618/original/file-20211124-28-1ayseuc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<p>As the effects of COVID-19 on the labour market dissipates, Australia’s vacancy rate should fall. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/local-training-is-the-best-long-term-solution-to-australias-skills-shortages-not-increased-migration-170376">Local training is the best long-term solution to Australia's skills shortages – not increased migration</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Effect on wages</h2>
<p>In the meantime, there is natural interest in whether labour shortages will kick-start wage growth. </p>
<p>There some evidence that recent wage growth (over the year to the September quarter 2021) has been strongest in industries with the largest rises in job vacancy rates. Notable examples are professional, scientific and technical services (3.5%), construction (2.6%) and accommodation and food services (2.6%).</p>
<p>However, it is unlikely the COVID-related labour shortages are enough to make a permanent difference to wages. </p>
<p>Even now, while shortages exist, much of the recovery in employment seems to be happening without big wage increases. In June 2021, when the rate of unemployment rate fell below 5% for the first time since in more than a decade, wage growth was still just a modest 0.44% for the quarter.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/vital-signs-chill-this-weeks-news-on-wages-points-to-anything-but-hyperinflation-171840">Vital Signs: Chill, this week's news on wages points to anything but hyperinflation</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>One reason for the lack of significant wages growth is revealed in the <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-and-unemployment/labour-force-australia/latest-release">latest labour force statistics</a> from by Australian Bureau of Statistics. The majority of the COVID-19-related changes in employment involve workers being laid off during shutdowns and then returning to their old job. </p>
<p>During the national shutdown from March to May 2020, for example, more than 60% of workers on Job Seeker payments retained an attachment to their job. These workers accounted for the entire increase in employment from May to September 2020. </p>
<p>For employers, rehiring former workers has removed the need to offer higher wages to attract new staff.</p>
<p>For higher wages growth over longer term we will have to rely on policy makers, with the government and the Reserve Bank working together to get the unemployment rate down to 4% or lower.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172146/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jeff Borland receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>Even now much of the recovery in employment seems to be happening without big wage increases.Jeff Borland, Professor of Economics, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1640152021-08-03T14:47:57Z2021-08-03T14:47:57ZLatin Americans face a stubborn pay gap in Canada, data shows<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413196/original/file-20210726-19-1atq439.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C0%2C4955%2C3645&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The relationship between immigrants' and refugees' education, experience and economic integration matters. It can tell us whether Latinos are unemployed or underemployed or contributing to the Canadian economy.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Latinos constitute a mosaic of nationalities and cultures, and there are <a href="https://www.chbalegal.com/blog/measuring-the-latin-american-population-in-canada-why-is-it-important">one million of them living in Canada</a>. </p>
<p>Just over 92,000 Latinos were admitted as permanent residents to Canada between <a href="https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/f7e5498e-0ad8-4417-85c9-9b8aff9b9eda/resource/0f1e6cce-a2e3-4ded-92ca-47d3c7e55128">January 2007 and April 2021</a> — with Brazilians, Mexicans, Colombians and Venezuelans topping the list.</p>
<p>Because of limited research on this ethnic group, we know little about Latin Americans’ experiences with economic integration in Canada. <a href="https://doi.org/10.20355/jcie29453">Economic integration</a>, in this context, refers to the extent and degree that immigrants and refugees integrate into the workforce, stimulating the local economy.</p>
<p>Through our most recent <a href="https://www.csa-scs.ca/conference/paper/occupational-niche-locations-of-canadas-latin-american-workforce-explorations-using-census-data/">exploratory research</a> and drawing from <a href="https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/index.cfm?Lang=E">2016 census data</a>, we analyzed how well Latinos are doing in terms of economic integration.</p>
<p>We found that while they are present across all Canadian labour markets, they are lagging behind the <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1110019001">Canadian median total income ($68,100</a>). This is because their field of employment, location and income are strongly shaped by their nationality, time spent (or having been born) in Canada and their gender.</p>
<h2>Latinos and the labour market</h2>
<p>Our research found that Latinos’ participation across the Canadian labour market varies. For example, 22 per cent of Latinos work in sales and services while five per cent work in health-related fields.</p>
<p>Among Latinos working in health, half of males (50.4 per cent) and 44.1 per cent of females are employed as nurse aides, and 8.5 per cent of men and 15.1 per cent of women are employed as registered nurses.</p>
<p>Their <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-631-x/11-631-x2021001-eng.htm">significant participation</a> in front-line jobs has increased their health-related risks during the pandemic. <a href="https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2021/hl/bgrd/backgroundfile-165738.pdf">Latinos</a> are <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-s-latino-community-7-times-more-likely-to-contract-covid-19-than-others-wants-more-support-1.5995328">seven times</a> <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/toronto/article-why-the-latin-american-community-in-toronto-has-been-hit-hard-by-covid/">more likely to be hospitalized</a> with COVID-19 than any other ethno-racial group in Toronto. <a href="https://www.latinoscovid.org/news">They also have</a> the <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/45-28-0001/2021001/article/00017-eng.htm">second highest mortality rate</a> among immigrant communities affected by COVID-19 in Canada.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A cyclist passes a mural thanking front-line workers for their efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413188/original/file-20210726-13-1qpx4i4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413188/original/file-20210726-13-1qpx4i4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=369&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413188/original/file-20210726-13-1qpx4i4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=369&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413188/original/file-20210726-13-1qpx4i4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=369&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413188/original/file-20210726-13-1qpx4i4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413188/original/file-20210726-13-1qpx4i4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413188/original/file-20210726-13-1qpx4i4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A cyclist passes a mural painted by artist Juliana LaChance thanking front-line workers for their efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ottawa.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang</span></span>
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<h2>Gender, nationality and time spent in Canada</h2>
<p>Gender plays a major role in which industry Latino men and women work. For instance, while nearly one in five women work in business, only one in 10 men do.</p>
<p>There are also significantly more Latino women in the field of education (16 per cent), with numerous nationalities represented — Nicaraguans, Peruvians, Chileans, Colombians, Costa Ricans, Brazilians, Argentinians and Bolivians. Only eight per cent of men work in this field, particularly Salvadorian, Chileans and Cubans.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-teachers-face-complex-cultural-challenges-the-stories-of-3-latina-teachers-in-their-toughest-moments-158605">New teachers face complex cultural challenges – the stories of 3 Latina teachers in their toughest moments</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Time spent or having been born in Canada also shapes where Latinos work. Among men, Salvadorians, Venezuelans, Chileans and Cubans who have been in Canada between five and 14 years often work in fields that require more education.</p>
<p>Among immigrant women, the more years spent in Canada, the more likely they were to work in fields that required more education. And among Canadians of Latin American descent, more women than men work in fields that require more education.</p>
<p>More Latino women than men have achieved important employment-related advancements. This has been done by obtaining jobs that require more education. However, not all Latin American groups have obtained this degree of economic integration. And when Latina women work in fields that demand more education, their income does not reflect that — this is something that requires attention.</p>
<p>Latinas working in management, business, sciences, health and education (64 per cent) were paid on average $13,400 less than the 48 per cent of Latino men working in the same fields. Men earned, on average, $55,300 and women $41,900.</p>
<p>For those working in art, sales and services, trades, resources and manufacturing, women were on average paid $11,400 less than men — men earned, on average, $33,600 and women $22,200. </p>
<p>Across the board, Latin Americans earned less than the average Canadian. This produces unequal economic conditions, and can make coming to, and working in Canada more difficult.</p>
<h2>Recognizing education and experience</h2>
<p>Immigrants’ labour force has become indispensable due to aging demographics. By evaluating Latinos’ economic integration, we can assess the degree to which they are allowed to and further contribute to the Canadian economy.</p>
<p>It is important to consider, however, that immigrants’ and refugees’ international credentials and experience are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2018.1432872">usually not recognized</a> in Canada. For this reason, Latinos’ income <a href="https://doi.org/10.20355/jcie29453">may not reflect</a> their skills, knowledge and experience.</p>
<p>In order to reach economic parity with the average Canadian, Latino workers have to overcome multiple barriers. These include accent and language obstacles, professional accreditation issues, discriminatory hiring processes and the effect of gender.</p>
<p>The relationship between immigrants’ and refugees’ education, experience and economic integration matters. It can tell us whether Latinos are unemployed or underemployed or contributing to the Canadian economy. It can also highlight areas for improvement, and whether specific sectors of the labour force require additional support.</p>
<p>Latinos’ economic integration journey requires both individual and collective efforts as well as policy interventions to ensure good outcomes for this vital labour force group.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164015/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Although Latinos are present across all Canadian labour markets, they are lagging behind the Canadian median total income. What does that mean for their economic integration?Alejandro Hernandez, Assistant Professor, Sociology, Concordia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1619002021-07-11T20:13:56Z2021-07-11T20:13:56ZOur estimates suggest we can get Australia’s unemployment down to 3.3%<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409437/original/file-20210702-13-1q2p78t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=814%2C269%2C3107%2C1628&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">MIA Studio/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>At last, the government and the Reserve Bank are singing from the same song sheet. Both say they will keep supporting the economy (the government with big deficits, the Reserve Bank with ultra-low interest rates) until the unemployment rate is well below 5%.</p>
<p>Australia’s leading economists back them.</p>
<p>Of the 60 leading economists surveyed by the Economic Society ahead of the budget, more than 60% wanted stimulus until the unemployment rate was below 5%.</p>
<p>One in five economists wanted stimulus until the rate was <a href="https://theconversation.com/exclusive-top-economists-back-unemployment-rate-beginning-with-4-159989">below 4%</a>. Five wanted a rate below 3%.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397752/original/file-20210429-18-tqjs2j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397752/original/file-20210429-18-tqjs2j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397752/original/file-20210429-18-tqjs2j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397752/original/file-20210429-18-tqjs2j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397752/original/file-20210429-18-tqjs2j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=641&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397752/original/file-20210429-18-tqjs2j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=641&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397752/original/file-20210429-18-tqjs2j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=641&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Conversation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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<p>The official unemployment rate is currently <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-and-unemployment/labour-force-australia/latest-release">5.1%</a>. We’ll get an update on Thursday.</p>
<p>How much lower we can push it without creating increasing inflation is in large measure a technical question, one myself and colleague Jenny Lye have attempted to estimate using 50 years of data on variables including union membership and unemployment benefits between 1967 and 2017.</p>
<p>Union power and the level of unemployment benefits help determine how low unemployment can go before employers are forced to increase wage rises. </p>
<h2>Power and benefits</h2>
<p>Union power is important because the greater is union power, the higher is the rate of unemployment required to keep union-driven wage inflation in check. </p>
<p>Unemployment benefits are important because they contribute to the attractiveness of unemployment and thus to the difficulty employers face to prevent employees walking.</p>
<p>The more people are paid in unemployment benefits, the higher the rate of unemployment needs to be to keep employer-driven wage inflation in check.</p>
<p>We call the minimum rate of unemployment consistent with non-increasing wage inflation “umin”. An unemployment rate above “umin” means the rate of wage increases will remain steady. If it’s below “umin”, wage increases will start to climb.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/exclusive-top-economists-back-unemployment-rate-beginning-with-4-159989">Exclusive. Top economists back unemployment rate beginning with '4'</a>
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<p>Our estimates have umin changing from 2% in the late 1960s, to 6% in the mid 1970s and 1990s, to less than 4% after the global financial crisis.</p>
<p>Our most recent estimate, for 2017, is <a href="https://www.elgaronline.com/view/journals/roke/9-1/roke.2021.01.02.xml">3.3%</a>. </p>
<p>That estimate — that Australia could have a 3.3% unemployment rate without increasing wage inflation — is lower than the <a href="https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/bulletin/2017/jun/2.html">4.5%</a> estimate by researchers at the Reserve Bank and the <a href="https://treasury.gov.au/publication/p2021-164397">4.75%</a> estimate adopted by the Treasury. </p>
<p>It is also much lower than the 5% unemployment Australia achieved pre-COVID. </p>
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<p><strong>umin estimates, Australia 1967-2017</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409446/original/file-20210702-27-1swenfm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409446/original/file-20210702-27-1swenfm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409446/original/file-20210702-27-1swenfm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409446/original/file-20210702-27-1swenfm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409446/original/file-20210702-27-1swenfm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409446/original/file-20210702-27-1swenfm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409446/original/file-20210702-27-1swenfm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409446/original/file-20210702-27-1swenfm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">umin is the minimum rate of unemployment consistent with non-increasing inflation. Upper and lower estimates = 95% confidence level.</span>
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<p>Taken together, our series of estimates suggest that since 2012 we could have achieved much lower unemployment than we have without troubling inflation.</p>
<p>Whether umin has edged higher or lower since our most recent estimate in 2017 depends in part on the size of subsequent changes in union power and unemployment benefits.</p>
<p>An advantage of our estimates is that they help explain why umin has varied over time.</p>
<p>By contrast, the Reserve Bank and Treasury estimates shed no light on causes. They derive from statistical relationships between unemployment and wages which have changed over time without an explanation of why tat has happened.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/economy-will-be-weak-and-in-need-of-support-after-pandemic-say-top-economists-in-2021-22-survey-163433">Economy will be weak and in need of support after pandemic, say top economists in 2021-22 survey</a>
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<p>Our estimates quantify the impacts of union power and unemployment benefits. </p>
<p>In 1975, when 51% of the workforce was unionised and unemployment benefits were as high as 28% of male after-tax average earnings, we estimate umin at 5.7%. </p>
<p>Since then union membership has fallen to 17%, and unemployment benefits have fallen to 23% of male after-tax earnings.</p>
<p>One or both of them would need to fall further to get umin down to the 2% we used to have.</p>
<h2>We can reach 3.3% but perhaps not 2%</h2>
<p>When umin was 2% between 1967 and 1971 unemployment benefits were lower than they are today, averaging 14.7% of male after-tax average earnings. </p>
<p>Our estimates suggest that with union membership where it is today, unemployment benefits would need to fall a further 5 percentage points (from 23% to 18% of male after-tax earnings) to get umin back down to 2%.</p>
<p>It is important to realise that cutting umin would not automatically cut the rate of unemployment to umin.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/josh-frydenberg-has-the-opportunity-to-transform-australia-permanently-lowering-unemployment-156175">Josh Frydenberg has the opportunity to transform Australia, permanently lowering unemployment</a>
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<p>The government would need to stimulate the economy in order to get it there, as it now says it is <a href="https://theconversation.com/exclusive-top-economists-back-budget-push-for-an-unemployment-rate-beginning-with-4-159989">willing to do</a>.</p>
<p>The gains to well-being of cutting unemployment to umin are substantial, especially for those at the end of the job queue and new entrants to the labour force, such as young people. Our calculations suggest there is little to be lost from trying to achieve them.</p>
<p>But it would be wise to tread carefully. Jeff Borland of Melbourne University laid out a reasonable approach in his response to the Economic Society <a href="https://theconversation.com/exclusive-top-economists-back-budget-push-for-an-unemployment-rate-beginning-with-4-159989">survey</a>. </p>
<p>He said if we get the unemployment rate down to 4% and find that inflationary pressures are not present, we should “try to push lower”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/161900/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Martin McDonald has received funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>Our work suggests we could have achieved much lower unemployment than we have in recent years, without driving up inflation.Ian McDonald, Emeritus Professor, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1627442021-06-15T06:05:19Z2021-06-15T06:05:19ZThe end of JobKeeper wasn’t a blip. It might have cost 100,000 jobs<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406380/original/file-20210615-22-43u2mk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=368%2C131%2C2258%2C1240&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">MultifacetedGirl/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>At its peak, more than <a href="https://budget.gov.au/2021-22/content/bp1/download/bp1_bs4.pdf">3.8 million</a> Australians were on JobKeeper — three in every ten Australian workers. </p>
<p>Adding in those workers already employed by government, it meant four in every ten received a paycheck that originated from government, more than in <a href="https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/CR/Issues/2018/09/12/Russian-Federation-Selected-Issues-46227">Russia</a>.</p>
<p>Yet when JobKeeper ended at the end of March, it looked like a mere blip in employment. The unemployment rate actually fell, for the sixth consecutive month.</p>
<p>The Bureau of Statistics said the cutoff had no “<a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/media-centre/media-releases/unemployment-rate-falls-55-april">discernible impact</a>”.</p>
<p>Treasurer Josh Frydenberg <a href="https://ministers.treasury.gov.au/ministers/josh-frydenberg-2018/transcripts/doorstop-interview-salamanca-lawns-hobart">went further</a>. The economy had “strengthened, even after the end of JobKeeper”. </p>
<p>Since the end of JobKeeper <a href="https://ministers.treasury.gov.au/ministers/josh-frydenberg-2018/transcripts/doorstop-interview-hillwood-tasmania">132,000</a> people had come off income support. </p>
<p>The treasurer is right. After March the number of Australians on JobSeeker and related payments fell <a href="https://data.gov.au/dataset/ds-dga-728daa75-06e8-442d-931c-93ecc6a57880/details?q=jobseeker">9%</a>.</p>
<h2>Changed rules pushed people off benefits</h2>
<p>But it’s possible for people to come off benefits at the same time as people are losing jobs, especially if something else is driving them off, as it was at the end of March.</p>
<p>At the end of March the coronavirus supplement that topped up unemployment benefits <a href="https://ministers.dese.gov.au/morrison/morrison-government-commits-record-9b-social-security-safety-net">stopped</a>. The payment dropped from $715.70 to $620.80 per fortnight.</p>
<p>And job seekers were once again required to search for a minimum of 15 jobs a month, climbing to 20 from July. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-finding-jobseekers-subject-to-obligations-take-longer-to-find-work-162093">New finding: jobseekers subject to obligations take longer to find work</a>
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<p>While burdensome for employers (if all of Australia’s job seekers actually apply for those jobs, employers will be lumbered with 17 million applications per month, climbing to 23 million) it’s also unhelpful for job seekers. </p>
<p>There’s evidence to suggest job seekers get real jobs <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-finding-jobseekers-subject-to-obligations-take-longer-to-find-work-162093">sooner</a> if they don’t have to go through charades.</p>
<p>The “<a href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/at-work/employment-minister-stuart-robert-tells-unemployed-australians-to-go-out-and-get-a-job/news-story/debdf08a5627b5f5290f13d0f1a5fd08">dob in a job seeker</a>” hotline will have further dissuaded them from applying for benefits.</p>
<p>These changes make the drop in the number of claimants understandable, much more so than the suggestion they got jobs, which in net terms they did not. Employment fell after the end of March, by <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-and-unemployment/labour-force-australia/apr-2021">30,600</a> according to Bureau of Statistics figures which will be updated on Thursday.</p>
<h2>As many as 97,000 fewer workers?</h2>
<p>How is a drop in employment consistent with a drop in the unemployment rate?</p>
<p>The unemployment rate fell to 5.5% in April not because employment grew, but because 33,600 people who had previously identified themselves as unemployed dropped out of contention, changing their status to “not in the labour force”. </p>
<p>Had they continued to not work but continued to describe themselves as “unemployed”, the unemployment rate would have been 5.7%.</p>
<p>And it would have been higher still if those shifted to zero or reduced hours with the end of JobKeeper had been called unemployed. Employment fell 0.2%, but hours worked fell 0.7%. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/josh-frydenberg-has-the-opportunity-to-transform-australia-permanently-lowering-unemployment-156175">Josh Frydenberg has the opportunity to transform Australia, permanently lowering unemployment</a>
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<p>My rough maths suggests this means the number of Australians actually working might have fallen by 94,100.</p>
<p>An analysis prepared by Melbourne University employment specialist <a href="https://www.fwc.gov.au/documents/wage-reviews/2020-21/research/rr52021v5.pdf">Jeff Borland</a> for the Fair Work Commission puts the number of jobs lost between 45,000 and 97,000.</p>
<p>He gets 45,000 by comparing the number of people who left employment between March and April this year with the number who left between March and April in previous years.</p>
<p>He gets 97,000 by comparing the average (rapid) growth over the previous four months as we emerged from recession with the growth between March and April.</p>
<h2>One in 11 JobKeeper jobs</h2>
<p>A touch over <a href="https://budget.gov.au/2021-22/content/bp1/download/bp1_bs4.pdf">one million</a> Australians remained on JobKeeper to the end, suggesting that as many as ten in every 11 of them kept their jobs when JobKeeper ended. One in every 11 might have lost their jobs.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406376/original/file-20210615-15-crydoa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406376/original/file-20210615-15-crydoa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406376/original/file-20210615-15-crydoa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=970&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406376/original/file-20210615-15-crydoa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=970&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406376/original/file-20210615-15-crydoa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=970&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406376/original/file-20210615-15-crydoa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1219&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406376/original/file-20210615-15-crydoa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1219&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406376/original/file-20210615-15-crydoa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1219&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Young workers run the risk of being scarred.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mangostar/Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>The Australians most knocked around were the youngest. Since the end of JobKeeper, women under the age of 30 have on balance <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/earnings-and-work-hours/weekly-payroll-jobs-and-wages-australia/latest-release">lost jobs</a> while women over that age have continued to gain jobs. </p>
<p>Men under the age of 40 have lost jobs while men over that age have gained them.</p>
<p>The treasury’s deepest concern about jobs since the start of COVID (it mentions it right at the top of that section of the budget) has been <a href="https://budget.gov.au/2021-22/content/bp1/download/bp1_bs4.pdf">scarring</a>.</p>
<p>The unlucky young people who happen not to secure jobs during downturns can fail to secure them for years, being passed over by newer, fresher young people who are barely affected.</p>
<p>Even where these people get jobs, if they enter the market when the youth unemployment is five percentage points higher than normal, they can expect to earn roughly 8% less in their first year, and 3.5% less after five years. It takes about a decade for the effect to fully disappear, and it’s worse for women than men.</p>
<h2>Vacancies, plus mismatch</h2>
<p>Australia’s record-high vacancy rate (<a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-and-unemployment/labour-account-australia/mar-2021">2%</a> of all jobs were vacant at the end of March) makes it look as if scarring needn’t be much of a concern. But jobs are vacant for reasons. </p>
<p>It might be that the mix of jobs we will need is changing, or that employers can for the moment no longer rely on migration to give them the mix of skills they want. Or it might simply be that the general bounceback in jobs has been so fast that the right employers and the right workers are still working out how to find each other.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-four-gdp-graphs-that-show-us-roaring-out-of-recession-pre-lockdown-161981">The four GDP graphs that show us roaring out of recession pre-lockdown</a>
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<p>Many businesses will die as a result of the end of JobKeeper. Businesses are forever dying. Some have been kept alive for longer than they would have been, and some have exited JobKeeper into a changed environment.</p>
<p>We’ve managed to end JobKeeper without a catastrophe, but that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been damage, and it doesn’t mean young lives won’t be scarred.</p>
<p>After a textbook exit from a recession — the sharpest V-shaped recovery ever — it would be awful if we left a slice of young Australia behind.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162744/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Martin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Unless we’re careful the damage will be long-lasting — especially for younger Australians.Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.