Unemployment And The Labour Force

From 1971 unemployment began to steadily rise, despite the fact the birth rate was falling. Why was this? Surely if there are less people entering the workforce, unemployment should fall?

Not necessarily! Who said less people are entering the workforce? One reason why unemployment rose was because the labour force participation rate for women rose. This was a structural factor; women wanted more in their lives than children and ''home duties''.

The Australian economy also changed; more jobs were created in tertiary industries (especially in the retail trade, education and health sectors) and many of these allowed part-time work. For many women, who were involved in raising a family at the same time, found these jobs very attractive. Men still preferred full time employment. In 1970, only 10% of all jobs were classified as ''part-time'' (less than 20 hours per week). In 1998, over 25% of all employment is part-time. Many social commentators are concerned with the level of underemployment in our economy. Employment may be at all time highs, but many workers are not using their skills at a level they would prefer.

From the early 1970's, the working age population began growing at over 2% per annum, as the children born in the years from 1945 to 1960 began entering the workforce. Employment growth, however, in the same period, was about 1.5% per annum in the economy. Simply put, there were more jobs being created every year (the demand for labour steadily increased), but the supply of labour was growing even faster.