Unemployed Australians Research Articles

Emergency to Elective Surgery Ratio as a Disparities Sensitive Surgical Access Metric, A Study of Low Socioeconomic Status in Australia.

The emergency to elective surgery ratio is a proposed indicator for global access to surgical care. There is a well-established link between low socioeconomic status and increased morbidity and mortality. This study examined the emergency to elective surgery ratios for low socioeconomic patients utilising both self-reported unemployment and the neighbourhood Index of Economic Resources (IER). A retrospective study was conducted at a regional tertiary care centre in Australia, including data over a ten-year period (2008-2018). Multivariable logistic regression adjusting for year, age, sex, Charlson Comorbidity Index, rurality, and if surgeries were due to trauma or injuries, was performed. 84,014 patients underwent a surgical procedure in the period examined; 29.0% underwent emergency surgery, 5.31% were unemployed, and 26.6% lived in neighbourhoods with the lowest IER. Following multivariable testing, the rate of emergency surgery was higher for unemployed patients (OR 1.42 [1.32-1.52], p < 0.001), and for those from the lowest IER (OR 1.13 [1.08-1.19], p < 0.001). For unemployed patients, this disparity increased during the study period (OR 1.32 [2008-2012], OR 1.48 [2013-2018]). When stratified by specialty, most (7/11) had significant disparities for unemployed patients: Cardiac/Cardiothoracic, Otolaryngology, Maxillofacial/Dental, Obstetrics/Gynaecology, Orthopaedics, Plastics, and Vascular surgery. Unemployed Australians and those residing in the most disadvantaged IER neighbourhoods had higher emergency to elective surgery rates. The disparity in emergency to elective surgery rates for unemployed patients was found in most surgical specialties and increased over the period examined. This suggests a widespread and potentially increasing disparity in access to surgical care for patients of socioeconomic disadvantage, specifically for those who are unemployed.

Social Isolation as Stigma-Management: Explaining Long-Term Unemployed People’s ‘Failure’ to Network

Social networks play an important role in helping people find employment, yet extant studies have argued that unemployed ‘job-seekers’ rarely engage in ‘networking’ behaviours. Previous explanations of this inactivity have typically focused on individual factors such as personality, knowledge and attitude, or suggested that isolation occurs because individuals lose access to the latent benefits of employment. Social stigma has been obscured in these debates, even as they have perpetuated stereotypes regarding individual responsibility for unemployment and the inherent value of paid work. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 80 unemployed Australians, this article argues that stigma-related shame is an important factor in networking decisions. First, it demonstrates that stigma is ubiquitous in the lives of the unemployed. Second, it identifies withdrawal from social networks and disassociation from ‘the unemployed’ as two key strategies that unemployed people use to manage stigma-related shame, and shows how these strategies reduce networking activities.

New minimum healthy living budget standards for low-paid and unemployed Australians

AbstractA budget standard indicates how much a particular family living in a particular place at a particular time needs in order to achieve a particular standard of living. This article presents new estimates that build on the earlier budget standards produced by the Social Policy Research Centre in the 1990s. The new budgets incorporate increases in consumer prices and community standards and reflect changes in item availability, retail practices and shopping behaviour, as well as improved research methods, 20 years of use and experience, and new data. They are designed to achieve a minimum income for healthy living standard and apply to families with a breadwinner who is either in full-time work and receiving the minimum wage, or unemployed and receiving Newstart Allowance. The estimates suggest that although the minimum wage is adequate for single people, it is not adequate to meet the needs of many couple families with and without children, while Newstart Allowance does not provide an adequate safety net for the unemployed, whatever their family status.

‘They really get you motivated’: Experiences of a life-first employment programme from the perspective of long-term unemployed Australians

AbstractLong-term unemployment can negatively impact health and well-being, and is a central focus of governments seeking to address poverty and social exclusion. Little is known about how individuals experience programmes aimed at addressing long-term unemployment and consequently the client-centred indicators of ‘success’. In-depth interviews were carried out with 31 long-term unemployed individuals engaged in a ‘life-first’ programme integrating vocational assistance with intensive personal strengths-based support. The participants in this programme faced multiple disadvantages including employment and educational barriers as well as a range of significant personal issues. They equated successful outcomes in the programme with receiving a wealth of psychosocial and practical assistance in addition to vocational support, and having a case manager who approached these issues as a whole. Findings suggest that, in order to provide the best chance of gaining and maintaining employment, programmes should address, in tandem, personal and vocational barriers facing those who are long-term unemployed.

Colonising Italians: Italian Imperialism and Agricultural ‘Colonies’ in Australia, 1881–1914

ABSTRACTThe historiography of Australian imperialism before the First World War has often neglected a context wider than the relationship with Great Britain. Yet this era also implicated non-British governments and their emigrants. Despite their small numbers, Italian settlers are significant for highlighting Italy's empire-building and Australia's struggles for national and imperial unity. Italy's foreign policies after 1901 opened commercial opportunities across its diasporic networks, which included subsidising agricultural ‘colonies’ in Australia. The contemporary discourses of sectarianism and racism voiced before Federation articulated political and popular resistance against Italian immigrants. The rhetoric shifted after Federation as state governments examined the issue of land tenure for closer settlements (small agricultural farms), appealing to an argument about serving unemployed Australians before approving foreign settler schemes. The history leading up to two Italian projects in Western Australia and Queensland in 1907 allows reflections on Italy's diaspora colonisation and Australian responses to foreign imperialism.

Struggling on the Newstart unemployment benefit in Australia: The experience of a neoliberal form of employment assistance

AbstractThe low level of the Newstart (unemployment benefit) payment has become a major source of concern about Australia’s willingness and ability to protect unemployed Australians from poverty. Despite this disquiet, there has been little scholarly examination of the implications of living on Newstart. In this article, through the use of a survey and in-depth interviews, we examine features of everyday life for Newstart recipients in the Sydney area, experiences that reveal the scarring potential of low benefits. The article illustrates that for a majority of interview participants, the most basic items were difficult to purchase and many of the interviewees were living in inadequate and even unsafe situations owing to an inability to afford satisfactory accommodation. For some, their lack of disposable income had severe health implications. Social isolation was a common phenomenon, and many of the interviewees found that the low payment made finding employment a lot more challenging.

Addressing mental health and reemployment for unemployed Australians through psychological interventions: An applied study

Few studies have examined the effectiveness of interventions to improve mental health in the unemployed. Current evidence points to interventions improving mental health but having little, if any, impact on reemployment. In the Australian context, psychological services continue to be delivered yet little is known about their effectiveness. This study examined the effectiveness of psychological services for 783 unemployed individuals. It was hypothesized that psychological intervention would improve the symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress and general psychological distress; that individual one-on-one interventions would be more effective than other interventions; and that improvements in mental health would be associated with reemployment. Results highlighted that psychological intervention was effective at improving mental health; that tailored individual interventions were not significantly more effective than other types of interventions and that improvements in depression, anxiety and stress were associated with reemployment.

Development and Validation of the Modified Occupational Questionnaire

Abstract OBJECTIVE. We developed the Modified Occupational Questionnaire (MOQ), a simple, quantitative measure of meaningful time use. METHOD. The MOQ, a time diary based on the Occupational Questionnaire, was piloted with a group of occupational therapy students and revised before use in a larger investigation involving young unemployed Australians (N = 228). External validity was examined by comparing MOQ time-use data with data from the 2006 Australian Time Use Survey. Internal validity was examined through Rasch analysis procedures. RESULTS. The MOQ demonstrated very good external validity (correlations &amp;gt;.85); acceptable rating scale, item function, and person performance validity; very good item and person reliability indexes (1.00 and 0.93, respectively); and a good person separation index (3.52). CONCLUSION. The MOQ is a simple and valid measure of the basic elements of meaningful time use. Future research is required to further develop the MOQ, particularly in populations other than people who are unemployed.

Is the health of young unemployed Australians worse in times of low unemployment?

To compare the health of young unemployed Australians during a period of low unemployment (April 2007: rate 4.4%) against published Australian norms for 18-24 year olds and unemployed people during a time of higher unemployment (February 1995 to January 1996: rate 8.1% to 8.9%). Two hundred and fifty-one unemployed 18-25 year olds residing in New South Wales completed the SF36 Health Survey version 2 (SF36v2) during a time of low unemployment. SF36v2 subscale and component summary scores were compared with published norms for 18-24 year olds and for unemployed persons during a time of higher unemployment. Young unemployed people during a period of low unemployment reported poorer health in all areas when compared with age-matched norms and poorer psychological health when compared with the published norms for unemployed people from a time when unemployment rates were higher. The health of young unemployed individuals during a time of low unemployment was poor when compared to both the general population and to unemployed people during a time of higher unemployment. Public health interventions must focus on improving the health of young unemployed people to support their engagement with and contribution to Australian society.

Employability during unemployment: Adaptability, career identity and human and social capital

Recently, Fugate et al. [Fugate, M., Kinicki, A. J., & Ashforth, B. E. (2004). Employability: A psycho-social construct, its dimensions, and applications. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 65(1), 14] defined employability as a psycho-social construct comprised of three dimensions: (i) adaptability; (ii) career identity; and (iii) human and social capital. The aim of the current paper was to empirically test Fugate et al.’s model in a sample of 416 unemployed Australians ( n = 126 for longitudinal sample). Specifically, this research explored employability in relation to three aspects of unemployment: (1) self-esteem during unemployment; (2) job search during unemployment; and (3) re-employment (at a 6-month follow-up). Overall, the results of this longitudinal study provide broad support for the psycho-social construct of employability and demonstrate its applicability to the unemployment context.

Unemployment and the underground economy in Australia

Despite government attempts to reduce welfare benefit fraud in Australia, participation in the underground economy by those claiming to be unemployed continues. Although there exists considerable international literature on the size of the underground economy, academics and public officials alike have paid little attention to the extent of participation in the underground economy by those who claim to be unemployed and in receipt of social security payments. This study provides the first known estimate of how changes in the unemployment rate affect the size and growth of the underground economy in Australia and the likely economic implications this may have for public policy decisions. We find that a number of unemployed Australians prefer to remain unemployed and work surreptitiously in the underground economy, while others, after becoming unemployed and finding legitimate employment, prefer to continue working in the underground economy.

Individual differences in age and self-efficacy in the unemployed

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of age in influencing the relationships among general self-efficacy, proactive attitude, and proactive coping in unemployed people. The sample consisted of 55 male and 49 female unemployed Australians participating in Job Search Training courses. They completed the General Self-Efficacy (GSE) Scale, the Proactive Attitude (PA) Scale, and the Proactive Coping (PC) Scale. The GSE, PA, and PC scores were found to be correlated, and a moderating effect for age was found on the relationship between PA and GSE. Regression analysis indicated that the moderation process could be explained by a mediating effect of PC. The results are discussed in terms of social learning theory, and implications are drawn regarding customisation of training programs for the unemployed.

Psychological distress in australian case managers working with the unemployed

This study reports levels of psychological distress found in a sample of Australian case managers who work with the unemployed. Using a longitudinal survey methodology, 86 case managers employed throughout Australia completed the 12‐item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ‐12; D. P. Goldberg, 1978) on 2 occasions during 1999. In comparison with other studies investigating psychological well‐being of both employed and unemployed individuals, case manager respondents in this study reported significantly higher levels of psychological morbidity than levels reported for employed Australians and similar morbidity levels to those reported by unemployed Australians. Skills training seemed to moderate psychological distress levels reported by female case managers.

Crumbling Pillars: Social Security Futures

Crumbling Pillars: Social Security Futures

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.

Cognitive Maps of Class and Ethnic Inequalities A Comparative Analysis

In a previous study, Bell and Robinson (1980) developed an Index of Perceived Inequality to investigate the cognitive maps of class and racial inequalities held by adults in England and the United States. This present study used the Index to examine the perceptions of inequalities of unemployed young adults. The sample included 355 20-year-old unemployed Australians from three groups that were labeled as Anglo Australian, English Australian, and non-Anglo Australian. When the findings were compared with the results of the earlier study they indicated that the American, Anglo-, and English-Australians had significantly stronger perceptions of class inequality than the English respondents. Also, the Americans and the young adults from the three Australian groups all perceived more racial/ethnic inequality than the English sample. As in the previous study, however, the results suggested that the young adults did not have particularly strong perceptions of class and ethnic inequalities. Support was provided for the proposition that many disadvantaged people may not perceive their society to be particularly unequal.