Bittersweet: being young in an older person's world

A decade ago youth unemployment loomed large in the national consciousness, but the policy and popular focus is now at the opposite end of the age spectrum, on older workers. I argue that this change in the national consciousness is misplaced. While there is sound evidence that the position of young people in the labour market has improved since the early 1990s, it remains weak relative to both prime age and older workers - and has, if anything, worsened relative to older workers. Moreover, there are emerging vulnerabilities for young people. The flow of young people into high-skilled full-time jobs appears to be occurring at a lower rate than for older age groups, despite the very substantial growth in high-skilled jobs over the period and despite the higher educational attainment of young people. The presentation will conclude with some conjectures that might form the basis of a future research program.

Mark is General Manager at the National Centre for Vocational Education Research where he oversees a national program of government-funded research aimed at improving policy and practice in Australia's vocational education and training sector. Prior to joining the centre in 2003, Mark was a Senior Research Fellow and Deputy Director at the National Institute of Labour Studies. Between 1995 and 1999 he headed up research and evaluation on employment relations for the UK government, where he ran the 1998 Workplace Employment Relations Survey, the results of which were published as Britain at work (Routledge, 1999).

Mark has a Masters degree in Industrial Relations from Warwick University and an Honours degree in Economics from Adelaide University. He has published two books and many articles on employment, work, and education and training, and is an occasional contributor to literary magazines. He was Chair of the world-renowned Adelaide Festival of Ideas from 2004 to 2007.