Youth as a reserve army of labour: Australia's regional unemployment conundrum. (2nd April 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Burrows, Scott; O'Brien, Martin
• Is Part Of: Labour & industry. Volume 26:Number 2(2016)
• Page Start: 90
• Page End: 102
• Publication Date: 2016-04-02
• Subjects: Australia -- labour -- reserve army of labour -- unemployment -- youth; Work -- Periodicals; Industrial relations -- Periodicals; Industrial relations; Work; Periodicals; 331.05
• DOI: 10.1080/10301763.2016.1155025
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1030-1763

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This article seeks to apply Marx's Reserve Army of Labour theory to explain youth labour market trends with a case study of the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. Statistical analysis of regional ABS labour force data reveals both persistently high youth unemployment rates as well as dominant cyclical activity. Dominant neoclassical economic theory, which implies that any unemployment observed should be infrequent and quickly solved by market forces, fails to adequately account for our observations. In contrast, our findings are congruent with the reserve army and segmented labour market theories. The article contributes new understandings of Marxist concepts to an important regional issue of contemporary policy relevance.