The idea that unemployment is the principal cause of poverty among those of workforce age has been a central finding of poverty research. Peter Saunders examines the links that exist between employment, unemployment, joblessness and poverty against the background of the growing diversity of labour market trends.

In 2004-05, Australia had an average annual unemployment rate of 5.3 per cent, the lowest rate in 28 years. Despite a low rate of general unemployment, there are still many groups in the community for whom the unemployment rate is well into double digits, or more than twice the average rate. Tony Kryger looks at...

Who records the largest drops in life satisfaction when they move into unemployment? Using an Australian panel data-set (HILDA, the Household Income and Labour Dynamics Survey of Australia), Nick Carroll finds that the unemployed in Australia report lower life satisfaction than observationally equivalent employed people (holding current income constant). Being currently unemployed is estimated to...

Nick Carroll examines what influences the probability that somebody will leave unemployment. The unemployment data used are derived from the retrospective work history information from the first two waves of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey. He finds that variables that increase wage offers and lower reservation wages are associated with shorter...

Tony Kryger finds that, in the randomly selected months of July and August 2004, more than twice as many people entered employment from outside the labour force as persons who made the transition from unemployment.