Until relatively recently Australia has recorded very strong economic conditions. Unemployment was at a 30 year low and overall labour force participation rates at an all time high. It is an unfortunate reality however that some groups of people did not have the chance to share in the recent economic prosperity. One group whose labour market situation continues to deteriorate is men who have limited levels of formal education. One index of this deterioration is that men with low levels of formal education have been withdrawing from paid employment at unprecedented levels. In 1981 the overwhelming majority of men, of all education attainment levels, aged between 25 and 60 were employed or seeking work. By 2001, at every age, at least 20% of men with no post school education were not in the labour force. These men are not unemployed using the conventional definition and nor are they looking for work.
In this presentation Megan Moskos provides an overview and outlines initial findings of PhD research that aims to understand why men with low formal education are not pursuing employment. The research is centred on case studies of four types of jobs (defined by occupations) experiencing employment growth, which are also open to workers with limited formal education. The case study approach involves interviews with men who might take these jobs, employers, male workers and clients or customers. The aim is to understand what determines whether men with low levels of formal education are able to gain employment in these jobs.
Megan Moskos has worked as a research assistant since 2003 with the National Institute of Labour Studies at Flinders University and since 2007 has been concurrently undertaking her PhD thesis.
