Experiences of the unemployed

This project is being conducted as part of a larger research program titled, The Dynamics of Economic and Social Change: An Analysis of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey.

This project involves two main components: (i) an analysis of labour force transitions of unemployed persons; and (ii) analysis of the dynamics of welfare payment receipt and workforce participation for unemployed persons.

The first component has thus far examined labour force outcomes in the second wave of the HILDA Survey for the sample of persons unemployed in the first wave. The analysis began with the construction of descriptive statistics for the pattern of transitions. We then undertook regression analysis of the main correlates of mobility from unemployment to employment. In work in 2005 it is planned to incorporate the third wave of HILDA data into the project.

The second component involves examining patterns of welfare payment receipt by unemployed persons. The first stage of this work involved examining the patterns of welfare payment receipt and workforce participation for the sample of persons unemployed in the first wave of data, and then examining payment receipt and workforce participation for the same sample in the second wave. In 2005 regression analysis is being employed to evaluate the main correlates of the dynamics of payment receipt.