Introduction: Sustaining Families in Challenging Economic Times

Abstract

This special edition of the Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE) contains a number of articles which were presented at the 11th Australian Institute of Family Studies Conference, held in Melbourne in July 2010. The conference which was titled ‘Sustaining Families in Challenging Times’, included papers on a wide range of topics related to families and adverse economic environments. Despite an extended period of strong economic growth, many Australian families remain economically disadvantaged because of a lack of employment, because of insufficient hours of work or because of low wages. For example, while the Australian unemployment rate is low compared to most other OECD countries, the proportion of Australian children living in jobless families is well above the OECD average (see http://www.socialinclusion.gov.au). At the same time, there are a substantial number of Australian families where people are working long hours and this is resulting in quite high levels of work-family stress. All of the articles in this special issue relate to labour market challenges faced by families and all are focused on issues which are of significant public policy interest. There are several themes which run through two or more of the papers, including geographic concentrations of disadvantage, the labour market participation of carers and issues of work and family balance.