Search results

In 2004, there were 193,800 young people (aged 15-19 years) who were neither in full-time education, employed full-time, nor in a combination of part-time employment and part-time education. This article uses data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) May Surveys of Education and Work, 1984-2004 to examine young people’s engagement with work and education. Key messages in the article include: over the last 20 years, there was little change in the proportion of school leavers not fully engaged; there has been a shift in the kind of activities undertaken by young people who are fully engaged; part-time employment among young people not in full-time education has increasingly become more common in the transition from school to work and/or continued study; and levels of full-time engagement among young people differ depending on characteristics such as gender, area of residence and educational background. The article concludes that educational attainment plays a significant role in the transition experiences of school leavers and continued participation in formal skill development and learning also contribute to labour force participation beyond the immediate transition from school.