Hidden unemployment among teenagers: a comparison of in-school and out-of-school indicators

Hidden unemployment among teenagers has traditionally been sought in increased school participation rates. In addition to the conceptual and statistical problems of this measure it distracts attention from the existence of hidden unemployment among teenagers who have left school. Analysis of unpublished Australian Bureau of Statistics data suggests that hidden and disguised unemployment among non-school teenagers is considerable. In May 1981, 5.8 per cent of teenage boys and 14.4 per cent of teenage girls who had left school could be accounted for neither by full-time education, full-time employment nor officially recognised unemployment, and these estimates are stable over a 12 month period. Hidden unemployment among post-school youth is concentrated among girls to a greater extent than is measured unemployment and it cannot be accounted for by an unemployment induced retreat into either motherhood or marriage. On a monthly basis, teenage withdrawal from the labour force in the face of increases in unemployment is more readily found among non-school teenagers than among those at school. Show less