Unemployment Policy: Unemployment, Underemployment and Labour Market Insecurity

In this chapter we argue that Australia’s labour market features too much unemployment, underemployment or associated forms of labour market insecurity. The later term implies a weak or tenuous connection to the labour force through underemployment or involuntary casual or part-time work and/or low wages or other manifestations of weakness visà- vis employers. The direct and indirect costs of such malfunctions in the labour market are reflected in a range of economic, social, health and other costs (Watts 2000; Saunders and Taylor 2002). Estimates of the costs of unemployment and underemployment range from $20 to $40bn per annum in Australia (Watts 2000). A good deal of social policy is directed to problems emanating from the labour market and its various malfunctions. Accordingly, a good way to minimize the need for expensive and often difficult social policy interventions is to try and organize the labour market so that it provides reasonable jobs for those that seek them.