THE YOUTH WAGE AND AGE‐BASED DISCRIMINATION: RIGHTS VS JOBS

Defences of the youth wage constitute a form of discrimination against young people with significant implications for income poverty among 16–24 year olds in Australia. In a manner comparable to the historic denigration of women and Indigenous Australians, arguments against the equal value of youth work rest on normative and empirical assumptions that are entirely contestable. Ultimately, they embody an animus against a section of the population that deprives them of their fundamental civic status.     

UNEMPLOYED? BOARD THE ENTERPRISE FOR A BRAVE NEW WORLD AND A ‘REAL’ JOB: A CRITIQUE OF THE NEW STRATEGY FOR REDUCING UNEMPLOYMENT

This paper argues that the changes to the delivery of labour exchange assistance to the unemployed, initiated in the 1996 Federal Budget, are unlikely to deliver on the promise of ‘Helping Australians into Real Jobs’. The changes posited by the government are more realistically viewed as a trend to divesting itself of cost intensive functions through the mechanisms of corporatisation and privatisation. Through an analysis of service expectations, the author suggests that the creation of the employment services market will neither build confidence in the Government's strategy to contain unemployment, nor have a positive impact on reducing levels of unemployment. PEPE Ltd, the government owned employment placement enterprise, faces an interesting future as it competes in an open employment services marketplace. It is further suggested that the privatisation trend has serious implications for equitable service delivery to unemployed Australians.     

Equal But Not Always Fair: Value‐laden Sharing in Preschool‐aged Children

Prior work has shown that preschoolers divide resources fairly and expect others to do the same. The majority of research, however, has focused on how children make distributions with respect to number. Here we explore whether preschoolers attend to the value of the objects being shared. We presented four‐year‐olds and five‐year‐olds with two puppets and four stickers of different values to split between them. Our central question was whether children would share more valuable stickers with their preferred puppets. In Experiments 1–2, value was induced by making one sticker rarer than the others. In Experiments 3–4, value was measured subjectively (by asking the child which sticker s/he personally preferred). Across all experiments, children made fair numerical splits, but showed favoritism according to value. This work supports the hypothesis that young children coordinate number and value to show both fairness and favoritism when making resource distributions.     

USING BUDGET CONSTRAINTS TO ILLUSTRATE POVERTY TRAPS: THE CASE OF YOUNG PART-TIME WORKERS IN AUSTRALIA

Although much is known about the incidence of unemployment in Australia over the recent past, the causes of unemployment remain controversial. Various explanations have been advanced, some of which focus on the unemployment benefits system. The present study examines the problem of high effective marginal tax rates faced by young social security recipients wishing to engage in part-time employment, and the resultant emergence of so-called ‘poverty traps’. We examine budget constraints for unemployed eighteen year olds, both singles and couples, for part-time employment in four low income occupations; namely, brickie's labourer, public service clerk, stationhand and sales assistant. The results indicate that pervasive disincentive effects exist for young people seeking low wage employment.     

Who Gets an Early Education? Family Income and the Enrollment of Three‐ to Five‐Year‐Olds from 1968 to 2000*

Objectives. Has inequality in access to early education been growing or lessening over time? Methods. Using the October Current Population Survey education supplement from 1968 to 2000, we look at three‐, four‐, and five‐year‐olds' enrollment in early education—including center‐based care, Head Start, nursery school, prekindergarten, and kindergarten. Results. Our analysis shows a strong link between family income and early education enrollment for three‐ and four‐year‐olds, especially when we compare the bottom two and the top two income groups. These differences remain even after controlling for a large variety of factors, including race/ethnicity, maternal employment, family structure, and parental education. Conclusions. Inequality in early education by income group varies by age of child: it is most pronounced for three‐year‐olds, who have been the least likely to benefit from public early childhood education programs; it has diminished in the past decade for four‐year‐olds, who have been increasingly likely to have access to public prekindergarten programs; and it has all but disappeared for the five‐year‐olds, who now largely attend public kindergarten. This pattern suggests a potentially important role for public policy in closing the gap in early education between children of different income groups.     

Unemployment,Youth Homelessness and the Allocation of Family Responsibility

The following discussion concerns two issues relating to what is usually called youth homelessness. The first concerns the accommodation expectations for 15 to 17 year olds to reside at their parent's home, which is encouraged by the existing government's policies, and the non-indexation of the unemployment benefit for single 16 and 17 year olds. Assumptions about family responsibility are also discussed and linked with assumptions about family dependency. The second concerns the establishing of a minimum data base from which the quantification of the number of homeless youth can begin. Additional data available, however, suggests that the numbers of young people who might be expected to experience difficulty finding accommodation is much higher than first thought.     

A Capability Approach to Unemployed Young People's Voice and Agency in the Development and Implementation of Employment Activation Policies

In the UK, current approaches to employment activation are primarily concerned with rapid labour market entry, with jobseekers compelled to engage in activities or be sanctioned. The Capability Approach (CA) has been proposed as an alternative framework to measure successful employment activation. It is concerned with what people can do rather than what they actually do, together with their substantive freedom of choice. In applying the CA, attention is drawn to the need for jobseekers to have a voice in the design and implementation of employment activation programmes. Drawing on in‐depth qualitative research, this article uses the CA to explore the voice and agency of unemployed young people (aged 16–24) in the development and implementation of employment activation policies. It analyses how far, and in what ways, young people's ideas, experiences and voices are included in policy development and implementation. Reflections and conclusions are made about how the policy discourse which has stressed the importance of centring services on the needs of users is reflected in employment activation policy.     

Thinking for themselves? The effect of informant independence on children's endorsement of testimony from a consensus

Testimony agreement across a number of people can be a reassuring sign of a claim's reliability. However, reliability may be undermined if informants do not respond independently. In this case, social consensus may be a result of indiscriminate copying or conformity and does not necessarily reflect shared knowledge or opinion. We examined children's emerging sensitivity to consensus independence by testing whether it affected their judgements in a social learning context. Children ages 5, 6, and 8–9 years (N = 92), and 20 adults for comparison received conflicting testimony about an unfamiliar country from two consensual groups of informants: An independent group who responded privately and a nonindependent group who had access to each other's answers. We found increasing levels of trust in independent consensus with age. Adults and 8–9‐year olds preferred to accept the claims of the independent consensus, whereas 5‐year olds favored the claims of the nonindependent consensus and 6‐year olds were mixed. Although previous work has shown that children trust a consensus over a lone dissenter as young as 2 years, the developmental shift in this study indicates that children's reasoning about the nature of consensus and what makes it reliable continues to develop throughout middle childhood.     

Triadic Interaction among Newly Acquainted 2-year-olds

Are children as young as 2 years old able to interact in groups of three? The study applied the family triad model first introduced by Parke, Power, and Gottman (1979 ) to the case of peer interaction. In Experiment 1 , the model was refined for use in studies of peer interaction and applied to an existing dataset of 16 triads of newly acquainted 24‐month‐olds. In Experiment 2 , the triadic coding system was further refined and applied to 12 single‐sex triads of newly acquainted 2‐year‐olds. The findings demonstrated that 2‐year‐olds are capable of triadic interaction although the predominant interaction pattern in triads is still dyadic. Contrary to past reports, triadic interaction was more likely to occur when the children were not in conflict. Both girls and boys were capable of triadic interaction.     

Metropolitan Earnings Inequality: Union and Government‐Sector Employment Effects*

Objective. This study examines the effects of union density and government‐sector employment on earnings inequality in Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) in the United States. Methods. Data on 167 MSAs from the 2000 Census are analyzed using standard regression techniques. Four measures of Atkinson's index (e=0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0) are used as the measure of earnings inequality for full‐time, year‐round workers. Results. MSAs with greater union density and greater government‐sector employment have lower earnings inequality. The progressive effect of union density is strongest for earners in the middle of the distribution and less beneficial for workers at the bottom of the distribution. Government employment is generally associated with lower levels of earnings inequality, but state and federal government employment have the strongest effects. Conclusion. Even in the late 1990s, unions and government‐sector employment remain effective at reducing earnings inequality.     

‘You don't want to be a check‐out chick all your life’: The out‐migration of young people from Australia's small rural towns

Globalisation and changes in agriculture have resulted in major social changes in inland Australia. Depopulation of the inland has led many to speculate on the future of rural towns and rural people. This paper will examine population drifts from country towns to cities and from the inland to the coastal regions and, in particular, the out‐migration of young people. In doing this, the paper focuses on several small towns in central New South Wales that have been the subject of intensive study during 2000 and 2001. Drawing on analysis of Australian Bureau of Statistics figures, in‐depth interviews and focus groups with key informants and surveys with young people and their parents in small rural communities the paper will report on the loss of young people and the greater loss of young women from these areas. It is argued that this outmigration of young people is linked to the need to seek higher education and also to the loss of full‐time jobs for young people. The loss of these jobs is the result of changes in agricultural production, labour market restructuring and a withdrawal of public and private sector services. It is further argued that current reliance by governments on market based and community self‐help solutions is not enough to provide a future for rural communities. Even if economic growth occurs this will not solve the problem of loss of young people, and the greater loss of young women, nor will it address the issue of access to education and training. Rather far greater attention to human capital (access to education, training and employment), institutional capital (government and non‐government services and infrastructure) and social capital (strong networks) is needed if Australia's small rural towns are to survive and flourish.     

From quasi‐markets to public–private networks: Employers' engagement in public employment services

This article explores the implications of creating a role for private‐sector partners in public employment services (PES), rather than creating quasi‐markets. It focuses on how the engagement of employers in public–private networks with local government can enhance employment opportunities for disadvantaged welfare recipients but may require a further shift in local public services. The theory relates to contractual arrangements versus network modes of public–private partnerships. Based on surveys among employers and welfare recipients, and interviews with politicians, managers, and frontline workers in five Dutch municipalities, the article provides detailed evidence on innovative and promising cases of public–private networks in employment services. It shows that, under certain conditions, vulnerable jobseekers are better served by a network involving employers than by the standard supply‐driven approach that predominates in quasi‐markets. It also reveals that public and private partners have yet to fully embrace the implications of the network approach for their respective roles. The article contributes to the theoretical debate on public–private partnerships in the context of PES, reflecting on public–private networks as a policy design that could help improve employment opportunities for disadvantaged jobseekers.     

A Long‐Term Disability Care and Support Scheme for Australia: Opportunities for Disability Sector Reform

Social insurance schemes in Australasia have a long‐standing involvement in leading systemic change as well as funding services for eligible scheme participants. Establishing a long‐term disability care and support scheme for Australia provides opportunities to remove barriers to community access and improve the employment participation of all Australians with a disability, and to increase the use of evidence in policy development and in the delivery of disability supports. Using the examples of successful models in Australia and New Zealand, the authors will propose a model for the development and management of a long‐term disability care and support scheme that enables sector reform in employment participation, barriers to access and participation in all aspects of community life, and funding of disability research to benefit all Australians with a disability.     

Toleration or trust? Investigating the acceptance of ‘boat people’ among young Australians

There has been intense debate in Australia regarding how asylum seekers who arrive by boat should be treated. Some call for compassion towards those prepared to risk their lives to seek protection, whereas others believe ‘boat people’ should not be allowed into the country. This article uses data from a large representative sample of young people in Queensland, Australia, to understand the acceptance of asylum seekers by young people in Australia. The findings suggest that young Australians are more accepting than the Australian adult population. Several social and political background factors were also found to be associated with the belief that ‘boat people’ should be permitted into Australia. Fewer factors, however, are associated with the trust young Australians have in people from another country. This suggests that while some young Australians may believe boats carrying asylum seekers should not be turned away, fewer might be prepared to enter into trusting relationships with ‘boat people’ should they resettle in Australia.     

France: working longer takes time,in spite of reforms to raise the retirement age

Examination of the French situation from a comparative European perspective exposes the country's poor performance with regard to the employment of seniors and the prolongation of working life. Despite a recent rise in the employment rate of 55–59 year‐olds, worrisome signs have appeared, such as the steep rise in unemployment for this age category; this is indicative of the increasing vulnerability of ageing workers in the labour market. This critical analysis of twenty years of French public policies related to older workers seeks to identify the reasons for France's lag in making working life longer. The principal reason seems to be that public policies have nearly exclusively focused on increasing the supply of senior labour without adequately taking into account incentives for stimulating corporate demand for it. The many pension reforms undertaken from 2003 to 2014 have sought to lift the institutional obstacles to working longer. Accordingly, they have raised both the legal retirement age and the requisite number of quarters of contributions for entitlement to a full pension under Social Security. But effective, active labour market policies for stimulating the demand for senior labour have been lacking.     

Long-Term Unemployment

The author writes from the viewpoint of Chairman of an Area Board of the Manpower Services Commission involved in practical responses to present unemployment and in training programmes for 16 to 18 year olds. He reviews the various interpretations of the nature of unemployment noting that a high level of unemployment is now very general in industrial societies. Training is an important adjunct to employment in a technological and rapidly-changing society, but of itself it does not solve unemployment. Structural changes are required, many of these uncomfortable to the majority who are in profitable employment. Various partial remedies are reviewed but none of them on its own is found to be a full solution, neither is a reform of income distribution methods found satisfactory. The conclusion is that there are many aspects of unemployment and the solutions to it are complex and many-facetted.     

Maternal responses to negative emotions and child externalizing behavior: Different relations for 5‐, 6‐, and 7‐year‐olds

Emotional and behavioral maturity expectations increase as children transition to primary school; thus, maternal responses that support and encourage children's expression of negative emotion may not benefit school‐age children as much as preschoolers. The current study explored a change in the utility of these maternal responses among 187 families (62 5‐year‐olds, 75 6‐year‐olds, and 50 7‐year‐olds). Mothers reported on their responses to children's negative emotions and children's externalizing and internalizing behaviors at two time points over 1 year. Multiple group analysis within cross‐lagged path models revealed a positive association between non‐supportive maternal responses and later child externalizing behaviors among 5‐year‐olds. However, non‐supportive responses were related to decreases in externalizing behaviors among the 7‐year‐olds. Discrepant findings between the 5‐ and 7‐year‐olds may represent a developmental shift in the function of mothers' emotion socialization practices.