School of Social and Political Sciences - Research Publications
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ItemNo Preview AvailableMature age employment: Recent developments in public policy in Australia and the UK(Wiley, 2000-08-01)Objective: To examine recent policy developments in mature age employment in Australia and the UK. Method: Recent data and policy statements in the UK and Australia, supplemented by the findings from interviews undertaken with government and industry leaders in the UK in October/November 1998, reflecting similar work in Australia, were analysed and compared. Conclusions: •bL Population ageing, a long term decline in activity rates and skills among mature age workers and discrimination against them are important policy issues in both Australia and the UK (as in other countries). •bL A major policy difference is the use of antidiscrimination and related legislation in Australia; compared with a reliance on education and codes of practice in the UK. Sustained awareness raising is required, together with evaluation of the longer‐term impact on employer practices. •bL Employer involvement is low and systematic approaches are needed to identify and support good practice by employers towards older workers in both countries. •bL A comprehensive approach is crucial (whole of government, industry, unions), taking into account industry, occupational, locational and gender differentials.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableAge and participation in vocational education and training(SAGE Publications, 2001-01-01)In recent years increasing attention has been paid to the problems faced by older workers in the UK labour market. In this paper we examine the issue of older workers' participation in vocational training and education, drawing upon data from the Labour Force Survey. Our initial analysis identifies how rates of participation in workrelated education and training differ between age groups. Further exploratory analysis attempts to identify possible reasons for this, analysing the type of training undertaken by various age groups as well as the incidence of self-financed training. We then estimate an ordered-probit model for males and females separately, in an attempt to isolate the extent to which this lower incidence among older workers is due to employer or employee decision making. We find that, when compared to a reference group of prime aged individuals, those aged between 40 and 49 and 50 and 59/64 are less likely to undergo training and, also, less likely to be offered training. We conclude that the lower incidence of training among older workers can be mainly attributed to employer decision making. Finally, we discuss the implications of these findings for public policy.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableFlexible employment contracts and their implications for product and process innovation(Informa UK Limited, 2002-02-01)
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ItemNo Preview AvailableOlder workers: Trends and prospects(BLACKWELL PUBL LTD, 2002-10)
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ItemNo Preview AvailableAge Discrimination in the Labour Market and Policy Responses: The Situation in the United Kingdom(Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2003-01-01)
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ItemNo Preview AvailableOlder workers, employer behaviour and public policy(PALGRAVE MACMILLAN LTD, 2003-10)
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ItemOlder workers and employment: managing age relations(CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS, 2005-05)This article reports the findings of research into the functioning of companies' and organisations' internal labour markets. Four case studies of Australian and United Kingdom public and private sector organisations have been undertaken with two principal aims: to elucidate the challenges and barriers to the employment of older workers, and to demonstrate the benefits to business and to older workers of age-aware human resource management policies. In each of the case-study organisations, age-related assumptions affected the management of knowledge and skills and the ways in which older and younger workers were employed. Managing age relations in organisations requires an understanding of the ways in which workers of different ages are perceived and how these associate with sub-optimal deployment. The article concludes by suggesting that policies directed at older workers alone will ignore the age and age-group dynamics that pervade workplaces. To promote the better deployment of younger and older individuals in rapidly transforming organisations, there is a need for policy makers, employers and employees to be attentive to the age-group relationships that currently inform workplace practices. Organisations cannot ignore these age dynamics, but should adopt ‘age aware’ rather than ‘age free’ practices. The recommended human-resources approach would attend to individuals' capabilities and not stereotype them by age.
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ItemAge, labour market conditions and male suicide rates in selected countries(Cambridge University Press (CUP), 2003-01-01)This study examined the relationship between suicide rates among men since 1975 and rates of unemployment and labour force participation in 20 countries. Previous research has found statistically significant correlations between suicide and unemployment rates over time among young people in a number of countries. This study has extended this research to include different age groups of men. The findings for younger workers largely confirm the findings of previous studies. Among older workers, however, unemployment and suicide rates are largely unrelated, notable exceptions including Japan and the USA. The implications of this finding for policy making towards older workers are discussed.
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ItemAge and Work: International Perspectives(Cambridge University Press (CUP), 2004-04)The need to extend working life is being increasingly emphasised in policy debates in the developed economies. Recent years have seen the emergence of new policies on work on retirement aimed at closing off ‘early exit’ pathways and promoting the employment of older workers. This article summarises recent developments in selected countries, concluding that the effectiveness of policy making to date is difficult to gauge, that as yet, it lacks the necessary sophistication and that, as a consequence, it may not provide appropriate pathways for older workers or employers.
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ItemIntroduction: Themed section on Age, Employment and Policy(Cambridge University Press (CUP), 2004-04)Older workers have moved up the policy agenda within the industrialised nations. In the 1980s and first half of the 1990s, policy-making in much of the European Union emphasised the virtues of early retirement, partly as a response to high levels of unemployment. Since the late 1990s, there has been an increasing emphasis on overcoming age barriers in the labour market and on extending working life. This has been driven by concerns over ageing and shrinking labour forces, the sustainability of public pension systems, evidence of age discrimination in the labour market and the potential influence of the ‘grey’ voter. By contrast in the USA, the pronounced trend towards ‘early exit’ which has characterised Europe never existed. This is even more the case in Japan.