Examining the gendered impact of economic restructuring on regional labour markets.
1. IntroductionIt has long been acknowledged that economic restructuring has different impacts on men and women, both in Australia and internationally (Bagguley et al. 1990; Broomhill and Sharp, 1999; Edwards and Magery, 1995; Massey, 1995; Rube ry,1988). The recent focus on the causes of the global financial crisis and its impact on national and supranational labour markets (Karamessini and Rubery, 2013) have reinvigorated the study of the gendered impact of economic restructuring. Australia is seen as a country that has weathered the economic storm created by the global financial crisis relatively well. However, in response to global pressures, Australia has been experiencing economic restructuring for more than twenty years (Giesecke, 2008; Productivity Commission, 2013). Given Australia's economic dependence on primary industries it is also subject to exogenous shocks due to extreme climate conditions such as drought and flooding and these have particular regional impacts across the country (Edwards et al. 2009). The reliance on primary industry also makes Australia susceptible to international drivers such as China's increasing demand for iron ore and declining global demand for coal (Courvisanos, Jain and Mardaneh, 2016; Henry, 2013). During much of the period from 1996 through to 2011, strong overall employment growth has been accompanied by a decline in manufacturing employment and a growth in employment in health care and social assistance (Austalian Bureau of Statistics, 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011a). These broad national trends have not been experienced consistently across all regions, with some experiencing phases of economic decline, recession or restructuring. Employment growth has not been shared evenly between men and women, with implications for employment outcomes, gender inequality and gender segregation in regional labour markets.
Much of the analysis of the gendered impact of economic restructuring has been at an aggregate state or national level (Cass, 1995; Preston and Jefferson, 2007) or even at an international level (Karamessini and Rubery, 2013). Similarly, research on inequality within labour markets has tended to focus on 'national rather than regional trends with little appreciation given to local geographies of participation and progress by women'(Hanson and Pratt 1988 cited in Jenkins, 2004:20). Strachan et al. (2002:92) argue that 'few studies in the labour economics and industrial relations research agenda have analysed the differences that apply to women workers outside of capita I cities'.
It is also important to monitor how regional gender divisions of labour evolve overtime. Rubery and Rafferty emphasise that labour markets vary overtime as well as place:
the gendered impact of a recession will not be the same across time and space as differences can be expected in women's relative position in the labour market or welfare system linked to varying degrees of attachment to employment and varying social norms and household arrangements (2013: 415).
The particular contribution of this paper is to take labour market hypotheses that have traditionally been used to examine the impact of economic recession on gender equality at a national or supranational level and explore their usefulness for studying the impact of different phases of economic growth and decline on gender equality at a regional level. To achieve this, the paper draws upon Australian Bureau of Statistics data from the 1996, 2001,2006 and 2011 Censuses of Population and Housing. To explore gender equality in the Latrobe and Geelong regions of Victoria and the North Western region of Tasmania the paper focuses on the changing patterns of labour market participation, employment growth, industry gender segregation, skills and educational attainment, individual income and contribution to household income. The experiences of these regions are compared and placed within the broader national experience.
2. The Regions
The Latrobe and Geelong regions in south east and south west Victoria and the North Western region of Tasmania in Australia are in different phases of economic restructuring, each experiencing a distinctive pattern of employment growth or decline throughout the period.
Greater Latrobe Valley
The Greater Latrobe Valley has a primarily resource-based economy, with key employment industries including energy, mining and construction, agriculture and forestry and manufacturing (Fairbrother et al. 2012). The region experienced significant economic restructuring during the 1990s with the privatisation of the State Electricity Corporation, Victoria which saw the loss of more than 800 jobs in the electricity industry with a flow on of job losses amongst related mining, maintenance and manufacturing occupations (Snell et al. 2015). The long-lasting impact of the restructuring of this region has been well documented (Cameron and Gibson 2005; Rainnie et al. 2004; Wright et al. 2015) with Wright and colleagues demonstrating that the impact on social welfare was felt in the region well into the 2000s. Given the ongoing reliance of the region on coal fired electricity generation for employment, the region is especially exposed to potential changes resulting from climate change and government intervention to address climate change (Fairbrother et al. 2012).
Regional Geelong
The Geelong region's largest economic output is derived from manufacturing, particularly automotive manufacturing and related sectors. Historically manufacturing has been the largest sector of employment in the region (Fairbrother et al 2013). While the region has historically seen good levels of growth and regional development, concerns for the future of the region have been raised with the recent closure of car manufacturing plants.
North West Tasmania
North West Tasmania's economy is based on resource industries (agriculture, aquaculture, minerals and forestry), complemented by manufacturing and processing sectors with a range of tertiary (health and education), transport and speciality activities (such as creative industries). Secondary and service based industries account for a substantial part of the regional economy (Walker and Fairbrother, 2015). Barton and Fairbrother (2014) argue that the region is 'in a seemingly irreversible decline after having been the focus of inward investment and relative prosperity based on hydroelectricity and a skilled workforce, during the latter part of the 20th century'.
Each region has witnessed shifts in the structure of employment, including levels of employment in male-and female-dominated industries. Regional variations in the gender division of labour have impacted on both men's and women's opportunities for employment and on overall levels of gender inequality.
3. Previous studies of economic restructuring and inequality
Rubery (1988), in examining the impact of economic recession on women's employment patterns, identified three basic hypotheses to predict and explain how economic recession influences women's employment and labour market inequality; the segmentation hypothesis, the buffer hypothesis and the substitution hypothesis.
The segmentation hypothesis suggests that the gender segregation of industries and occupations within the labour market tends to protect women's employment during an economic downturn, maintaining women's employment levels, while men's employment declines as male-dominated industries and occupations are more adversely affected by recessionary pressures. This hypothesis is supported by the concept of the 'added worker effect' (Becker, 1981), which suggests that women's employment may increase during a recession as women seek employment or increased hours of work to make up for the loss or decline in men's contribution to household income. However Baden (1993) found that while women's concentration in public sector employment in developed economies provided initial protection from recession, subsequently their employment was exposed to reductions in public spending and employment. Such a pattern has been identified as a response to the GFC in the US and in many countries in Europe (Karamessini and Rubery, 2013).
The outcome of the segmentation hypothesis may be an initial increase in equality within the labour market, not through an improvement in women's employment conditions, but through a decline in men's employment conditions, identified by Armstrong (1996) as a 'harmonising down' effect. Initially, women may take on the role of the primary income earner within the household. However, over the long-term, women's contribution to household income would be reduced relative to men's, and the effect would be an overall decline in household incomes.
The buffer hypothesis suggests that women have tended to act as a reserve army of labour, drawn into the labour market during phases of high demand, often as part-time and casual workers, or in peripheral roles. As non-core workers, women can then be dismissed easily at the first sign of economic recession. This hypothesis is underpinned by the view that the labour market prioritises men's 'bread winner' labour in times of recession ahead of women's work, which is seen as secondary or supplementary to households. It also relies on a view of women as 'straddling the boundary between the formal and informal economy and able to with draw from the labour market during an economic downturn to focus on household responsibilities (Smith, 2009). The buffer hypothesis suggests that women's employment is likely to be impacted by the discouraged worker effect (Becker 1981) during a recession, with women withdrawing from the labour market and job search sooner than retrenched men.
The buffer hypothesis further suggests that during a recession, gender inequality in the labour market increases, with women's participation rates and income falling, increasing the overall gender pay gap. Women's overall contribution to household income is therefore reduced relative to men's income, which in turn will represent a higher proportion of household income (Preston and Jefferson 2007).
In revisiting the buffer hypothesis after the GFC, Rubery and Rafferty (2013) argue that it has been moderated over time by changing cultural values and social norms. They suggest that the reabsorption of women into the informal economy is likely to be less feasible today as domestic labour is less cost effective in the economy because of the availability of high levels of cheap mass-produced goods, and because dual income-earning patterns have been entrenched in social norms. O'Brien (2011) argues that older men's labour force participation rate has been appreciably influenced by the discouraged worker effect in recent decades which also undermines the buffer hypothesis.
The substitution hypothesis suggests that as a recession begins to bite, employers attempt to reduce costs by substituting more expensive skilled men's labour with women's lower skilled labour at lower pay and poorer conditions. Women's peripheral status in the labour market drives them to accept the poorer pay and conditions. Eventually, as labour market conditions tighten, men are also driven to accept alternative employment at lower pay and conditions, driving down employment quality for all within the labour market. The substitution hypothesis may also result in a substitution of skilled labour with new technology, or more capital-intensive production to reduce labour costs. The substitution thesis has also been referred to as the 'feminisation thesis'(McKenna and Roberge, 2001), but this terminology is discursively problematic as it reinforces the perception that poorer quality jobs are the domain of women only.
Under the substitution hypothesis, labour market equality may initially seem to improve through harmonising down, with men losing good quality jobs, reducing their income and contributions to household income. However, women's increased labour market participation may not result in major improvements to their income or their contribution to household income in absolute terms, given that the access is to more poorly paid work.
To date, these hypotheses have tended to be explored on a national or supra-national level (Armstrong, 1996; Baden, 1993; Karamessini and Rubery, 2013; Rubery, 1988; Smith, 2009), rather than at a regional level. This paper will explore whether these patterns can be observed within the selected regional economies during the period from 1996 to 2011.
4. Methodology
Bose (2015) argues that there is no universally agreed and accepted simple measure of labour market gender inequality. While there are a number of indices of gender inequality that have been utilised by transnational feminists and development economists, these have generally focused on national institutions and gender regimes, and have been used for international comparisons and evaluation of progress towards equality. Within Australia, debates have focused more on measures of labour market health. Measures of gender equality have relied primarily on pay equity data (Todd and Eveline 2007) and measuring the extent of labour market segregation and with a few exceptions most of this research has been at national or state level rather than for regional level labour markets. Jefferson and Preston (2011) and Watson (2000) have argued that to understand the health of a labour market we cannot rely on single-dimension 'headline' indicators such as unemployment rate. Watson (2000) advocates an approach that includes an understanding of participation rates for labour market activity and measures of underemployment, as well as a range of qualitative dimensions. This includes skill levels, hours of work, earnings inequality, employment security and job turnover. Jefferson and Preston (2011:303) suggest analysis needs to include 'underemployment, part-time employment and part-time earnings'.
Both Watson's indices and Jefferson and Preston's analysis draw on ABS sample survey data such as the Labour Force Survey and Employee Earnings and Hours data. While such data can provide more detailed information, on national trends, the reliance on a sample population reduces the data's effectiveness in analysing smaller regions, making it less statistically valid at a regional level.
In contrast, this paper draws on data from the 1996,2001,2006 and 2011 Australian Bureau of Statistics Censuses of Population and to examine the changes in regional labour markets. Utilising census data allows examination of changes over time within regions across a range of individual and household variables. By utilising census data we can combine data from particular local government areas or statistical local areas to create an analysis based on a regional labour market.
The local government areas (LGAs) of the three key regions are grouped together to create relatively cohesive regional labour markets for the purpose of analysis. Latrobe City Council, Baw Baw Shire Council and Wellington Shire Council, form the region of Greater Latrobe Valley. Significantly, 93.7 per cent of those who work within the Greater Latrobe Valley reside within the region. To create Regional Geelong, the LGAs of Greater Geelong, Surf Coast, Queenscliffe and Golden Plains are combined. Within the Regional Geelong Area 93.8 per cent of those employed in the region reside within the region. The region of North West Tasmania includes the LGAs of Devonport, Burnie, Latrobe, Kentish, Circular Head, Central Coast and Waratah/Wynyard, with 97.5 per cent of the workers within the region residing within the region. These figures suggest that each of these regions' labour markets is relatively contained, with most workers being sourced from within the defined region.
The use of census data also enables the examination of a range of variables at consistent time points across the period, which may not be possible with sample surveys. The census data can provide details on a relatively broad range of variables relevant to regional labour market health, including population change and internal migration, age structures of regions, labour market participation, part-time and full-time employment, unemployment, education and training levels and field of study, industries and occupations of employment, individual and family earnings as well as a range of other individual and family level data. It is not possible to include analysis of all these variables within a single joumal article and it was necessary to prioritise variables that illustrate the impact of economic change on gender equality in the labour market and within households. As a result this paper draws on a limited number of variables for each of the selected regions, including labour force status and participation rates, employment levels by industry sector, non-school qualifications, individual earnings and contribution of female earnings to household income by family composition.
A shift-share analysis of employment by industry sector was undertaken to decompose regional employment growth to an overall national growth component, an industry-structural change component (that is, how you would expect the employment in a region to change given the national industry changes) and a regional component which is a residual which describes how the particular regional experience influences employment trends (1). This decomposition was undertaken for both total employment and female employment. The paper also draws upon individual earnings data from the 2011 census, but it is beyond the scope of this paper to examine changing patterns in earnings over the period, as such analysis would need to take into consideration the impact of inflation on wages within the regions. This may be the subject of future research.
One important facet of labour market change that is not canvassed by the census data is the increasing precariousness of work. While the census does collect the number of hours worked by respondents within the reference week, it does not ask respondents to identify whether they are employed on a permanent, casual or contract basis, as such data collection has been notoriously unreliable (Campbell and Burgess 2001; Murtough and Waite 2001).
5. Gender inequality in Australian and regional labour markets 1996-2011
Australia
Across Australia, employment growth has been strong throughout the period from 1996 to 2011, averaging 2.1 per cent growth per annum as shown in Table 1. For women, the growth in employment has been stronger, at 2.6 per cent per annum with women's participation rate increasing to 56 percent in 2011. Meanwhile men's participation rate has fallen from 70 per cent to 67 per cent. The most significant component of employment growth in Australia has been the increase in part-time employment, which has grown at 3.3 per cent per annum. In 201130 percent of all employment was part-time, although 68 percent of all part-time workers were women.
Sectoral changes are also noteworthy. Manufacturing has declined from 12.1 per cent to 9.0 per cent of all employment, while employment in the health care and social services sector has grown from 9.4 per cent to 11.6 per cent of all employment. The construction industry has also seen strong growth from 6.2 per cent to 8.2 per cent of all employment. These structural changes have done little to address the gender segregation of the Australian labour market. The Duncan and Duncan (1955) index of dissimilarity (see Table 2), shows that gender segregation of industry has been increasing throughout the period across Australia. Table 2 also shows that the gender segregation of industry has been more significant throughout the period across each of the regions, and has increased in the regions relative to Australia.
Women continue to predominate in the health and social assistance, education and training, retail and accommodation and food services sectors, while men remain dominant in the agriculture, forestry and fishing, mining, manufacturing, construction, wholesale trade and transport, postal and warehousing sectors. Sectors where there has been a reduction in the gap between men's and women's employment include financial and insurance services, rental, hiring and real estate services, administrative and support services and public administration and safety.
Structural changes in industry sectors have impacted on the skills and education profile of the workforce. The proportion of the population with non-school qualifications has risen rapidly across Australia from 32.9 percent in 1996to45.1 percent in 2011. Amongst men, there has been a small, but still significant growth in the proportion of men with postgraduate degrees and bachelor degrees. However, the proportion of women with postgraduate degrees, bachelor degrees and certificates has rapidly outstripped the growth of men's qualifications. The overall result of these changes has been a closing of the gender gap amongst those with postgraduate degrees and vocational certificates while women are beginning to dominate in bachelor degrees.
The changing educational levels of women could be expected to have an impact on their wages and relative earnings. However, at the aggregate level, there has been very little impact on the gender pay gap. Todd and Preston (2012) have shown that between 1996 and 2011 there was actually a widening of the gender pay gap. Whitehouse (2003) has shown that a decline in the gender pay gap can be driven by a decline in men's wages, while Jefferson and Preston (2011) identify increasing part-time work amongst men as a factor, rather than the improvement in women's wages. In 2011, census data shows that 66.0 per cent of Australians had a weekly income of $1,000 or less. Women are more highly concentrated in this earnings bracket, with 74.5 per cent of women earning $1,000 or less. Amongst men 57.2 per cent earn $1,000 or less. In 2010, average weekly total cash earnings for all employees in Australia were $1,010.30 (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2011b).
Drawing on Australian Bureau of Statistics census data on partner income by family composition from 1996 to 2011, we can see that between 1996 and 2011, the proportion of couple families where the female income was higher than the male income grew from 12.2 per cent to 15.0 per cent, while the proportion of couple families where male and female income was equal dropped from 31.8 per cent to 29.6 per cent. In contrast, couple families where female income is lower than male income have seen limited change over the period declining from 56.0 per cent to 55.4 percent.
Overall across Australia, there has been growth in employment participation rates for women, accompanied by a significant improvement in women's education and skill levels, as well as an increasing number of women in professional roles. However, there is continuing gender segregation of industry, the gender pay gap has not declined, and there is a continuing pattern of unequal income earning in couple families. The question remains - how are these trends mediated within regions experiencing differing levels of economic change, and how does such change impact on regional gender inequality?
Regional Geelong Area
Over the period from 1996to2011the Regional Geelong Area experienced strong average annual employment growth (2.7 per cent), better than the Australian average (2.1 per cent). While women's employment grew more strongly than men's employment, (3.6 per cent per annum compared to 2.1 per cent per annum) there continued to be relatively strong growth in employment for both genders. Men's participation rate declined slightly over the period, in line with national trends; while women's participation rate has grown faster in the region than it has nationally, as shown in Table 1.
A significant proportion of employment growth has been in part-time employment, with 4.5 per cent annual average growth, considerably higher than the national rate. Part-time work now represents 34.8 per cent of all employment within the region. Despite the growth in men's part-time employment, women still make up 71.3 per cent of all part-time workers in the region.
The shift-share analysis (Table 3) shows that while national employment and industry trends have contributed to employment growth in the region, regional employment growth has been much greater than expected with 8,642 more jobs created than predicted. More than half of the regional effect has been driven by women's employment growth with a total of 4,786 more jobs for women than expected. The regional component of decline in the manufacturing, electricity gas and water and professional and scientific services sectors was significantly greater than predicted by national and industry patterns of growth/decline. However, the region saw greater growth in health care and social services, construction and retail trade than predicted by national or industry trends. Further decomposing regional patterns of growth by gender we find that women's employment fell greater than expected in manufacturing, while their employment grew significantly more than predicted in public admin and safety and in education and training. More than half of all new jobs in these sectors have been taken up by women, with most of this growth in the local government sector. This change has improved the gender balance in the sector from 37.4 per cent to 48.9 per cent women. However, more disaggregated analysis found that the increase in women's employment was driven by growth in aged and disability care occupations in the local government sector. This finding supports the Duncan and Duncan index (Table 2) which indicates that employment growth within industry sectors in the Regional Geelong Area has reinforced and exacerbated the gender segregation of the region's labour market.
Rubery and Rafferty (2013) suggest that if women lose more jobs within a sector than predicted, it may be inferred that they are more likely to be in buffer jobs, while smaller losses or growth may be attributed to the protection afforded by segmentation. The increase of women's employment in male-dominated sectors may imply the operation of the substitution hypothesis.
The shift-share analysis suggests that buffering has been a factor in the region in the manufacturing and construction industries given the greater employment losses for women. However, women have also experienced a level of protection from segmentation of the labour market, particularly in the education sector. Women's increasing employment in wholesale trade, professional and scientific services and public administration could be attributed to the substitution hypothesis, however further analysis of industry skills and salaries over this period would be needed to conclude that this is linked to deskilling rather than social or technological changes.
Across the Regional Geelong Area, the patterns of change in educational qualifications have followed the national patterns, with a growth in those holding non-school qualifications from 34.5 per cent in 1996 to 47.1 per cent of the population in 2011The patterns in qualifications obtained are diverse, with a increases in postgraduate degrees involving men and women, an almost tripling of women with a bachelor degree, and with a certificate level qualification, and an increase in the gender gap amongst those with a bachelor degree from 52.4 per cent women in 1996 to 58.5 per cent women in 2011.
Earnings tend to be lower in the Regional Geelong Area than nationally. In 2011, 70.0 per cent of all persons earned $1,000 per week or less (compared to 66.0 percent nationally). Within the region the earnings disparity between men and women is greater than nationally with 59.9 per cent of men earning $1,000 or less per week while 79.4 per cent of women earn $1,000 or less (compared to 57.2 per cent of men and 74.5 percent of women nationally).
Amongst couple families in the region, there has been a small increase in the proportion of households where women earn more than men, from 10.7 per cent in 1996 to 13.4 percent in 2011. This growth has primarily been at the expense of households where women and men earn equal amounts, with a fall from 32.5 per cent to 29.0 per cent. There has been less than 1 per cent change in the proportion of households where women earn less than men (56.8 per cent in 1996 compared to 57.6 per cent in 2011)
The positive regional effect shown in the shift share analysis suggests that the Regional Geelong Area economy has performed relatively well during this period, despite the manufacturing sector experiencing significant restructuring, with the decline of the sector increasing in pace since the 2011 census. Employment growth during this period has been stronger than the national average, but the region has seen a higher rate of growth in part-time work than the national average. The Regional Geelong Area has mirrored the national trends in terms of women's increasing participation rates, declining employment in manufacturing and increasing employment in the services sector. Educational outcomes have also improved for women in the region, in line with the national pattern. However, the positive economic growth at the regional level has had limited impact on levels of gender inequality in the region, with increasing levels of industry segregation and a higher level of earnings disparity than at the national level. Within the majority of couple households, women contribute less to household income than men, and this has remained unchanged throughout the period.
Greater Latrobe Valley
Since the period of major upheaval associated with the privatisation of the State Electricity Corporation, Victoria in the mid to late 1990s, there has been a mild recovery in the labour market of the Greater Latrobe Valley, although annual average growth has been notably less than across Australia as a whole (1.6 per cent per annum compared to 2.1 per cent per annum). Growth has primarily been driven by the increasing participation rate for women, risingfrom48.2 percentto52.5 percent, (Table 1). Growth in employment since 1996 has been strongest in part-time work for both men and women averaging 3.3 percent per annum.
The shift-share analysis (Table 4) shows that the Greater Latrobe Valley has performed poorly relative to national and industry trends with 3,644 fewer jobs created than expected. The regional effect has impacted more heavily on men than women, with women experiencingonly496 less jobs created than expected. The regional effect had a broad impact across sectors with 13 out of 19 industries experiencing greater losses than predicted. Not unexpectedly, the region has performed particularly poorly in electricity, gas and water and mining, however, it has also performed less well than predicted by national and industry trends in education and training and in finance and insurance services. In both education and training and finance and insurance services the lack of expected growth impacted more heavily on women. The region has only performed better than predicted in health care and social assistance and in manufacturing. Decomposing this data for gender, we find that despite the poorer performance of education and training at the regional level, women have been somewhat protected by their dominance in the health sector as well as their dominance in accommodation and food services and the retail sector. Overall, segmentation has failed to protect women's employment with extensive employment losses in female-dominated sectors.
Women's employment losses in male-dominated agriculture, forestry and fishing, mining and manufacturing, and the increasing levels of part-time employment may suggest the operation of the buffering hypothesis.
As in the Regional Geelong Area, the Greater Latrobe Valley has seen very strong growth in public administration and safety and women have been the primary beneficiaries of this growth. While this could be perceived as a process of substitution with women moving into a male-dominated sector, further analysis suggests the main source of growth was from increases in female-dominated caring occupations within the sector, undermining the substitution argument. Changing employment patterns have continued to reinforce gender segregation of the local labour market and the Duncan and Duncan index shows that the regional labour market has become more gender segregated over the period.
In relation to changes in educational levels, the Greater Latrobe Valley started the period with very low levels of non-school qualifications at 22.0 percent, growing to 32.1 per cent in 2011, which is still significantly lower than the national average. The proportion of women holding certificates III and IV has increased by more than four times. A similarly large increase has been seen in the proportion of women with a bachelor degree and with post-graduate degrees. Amongst men, the strongest growth has been in post-graduate degrees (91.0 per cent increase) and in bachelor degrees (61.2 per cent increase), although both of these are from relatively low bases. The most common qualification held by men remains the certificate III or IV, the standard qualification for trades and other blue collar workers, and 18,386 men in the Latrobe Valley hold these qualifications (68.9 per cent of all men with a non-school qualification).
The changes observed in women's employment appear to have had little impact on the earnings level of women in the region. The Latrobe Valley has a relatively high level of income disparity by gender compared to other regions in Australia, with 81.4 per cent of women earning $1,000 or less per week compared to 60.5 per cent of men.
Amongst households within the Greater Latrobe Valley, the overall patterns of income generation between men and women have been relatively stable over the period. The proportion of households where women's contribution to household income is less than men's has increased from 54.1 percent in 1996 to 56.6 per cent in 2011, while the proportion of households where women and men contribute equally has fallen from 33.7 per cent to 30.8 per cent. There has been a minimal increase (0.4 per cent) in households where women contribute more than men to the household income.
During the period under review, the Greater Latrobe Valley experienced slow economic recovery following major restructuring of men's employment during the 1990s. Employment grew much less than expected given national and industry trends, and men's participation in the labour market fell faster than at the national level. The region experienced a level of economic recovery, with growth improving over the period. A policy focus on stimulating growth by attracting major manufacturing and construction projects to the region helped to buoy men's employment over the period. However, employment growth was primarily driven by women's increasing participation, particularly growth in women's part-time employment.
Changes in women's employment have reinforced the gender segregation of the labour market within the region. Education levels have improved for men and women, but remain significantly lower than the national average. The levels of gender inequality in the region have intensified, with higher levels of industry segregation and increased earnings disparity compared to the national level. Amongst the majority of couple households, women contribute less to household income than men, and this has increased throughout the period.
North West Tasmania
The experience in North West Tasmania has been significantly less positive than in either the Regional Geelong Area or the Greater Latrobe Valley between 1996 and 2011, with average annual employment growth of 1.0 per cent per annum, significantly below the Australian average of 2.1 percent per annum. Over the fifteen-year period, men's employment has grown at an annual average rate of 0.3 percent perannum, while women's employment has grown at 1.9 per cent.
NWT began the period with a low participation rate for women at 45.6 per cent, almost 9 percentage points below the Australian average for women at 51.7 per cent. Women's participation within the region has grown at a faster pace than the national average, reaching 50.8 per cent in 2011, but is still well below the national average. Since 1996, men's participation has fallen from 67.7 per cent to 62.1 per cent, well below the 2011 national average for men.
Over the fifteen-year period, part-time work grew by an average of 2.6 per cent per annum. Women's part-time work grew faster (2.7 per cent per annum) than men's part-time employment (2.6 per cent per annum) which exacerbated women's over-representation in part-time work. In 2011, women made up 70.9 per cent of all part-time workers within the region.
The shift share analysis (Table 6) shows that despite positive national growth trends, industry and regional trends have had a significantly negative impact on the region with 4,438 less jobs created than predicted. Men have experienced a greater share of this impact, with only 787 less jobs created than expected for women. A broad range of sectors have been impacted by poor regional performance with 13 out of 19 industries growing less than expected. While manufacturing and construction performed less well than predicted, women did not experience such significant losses as men, suggesting that buffering was not a factor in this decline. Health care and social assistance, retail and education and training all experienced poorer performance than expected and women bore the greater burden in these sectors, suggesting that segmentation did not operate to protect women's employment within the region. Growth in these sectors is frequently driven in regional areas by population growth and the region has experienced very poor population growth with an annual average growth in adult population of 0.5% per annum, compared to 1.7% across Australia throughout the period. The performance of these industries suggests the region is in cumulative decline. Public administration and safety provided the strongest growth in employment for women, and while this has been a male-dominated sector it does not appear that this increase is related to the substitution of men's employment with women's employment. Women's increasing participation rate seems to have been the greatest driver for employment growth within the region. However, despite increasing employment of women in almost all sectors, the Duncan and Duncan index shows there has been a sizeable increase in the gender segregation of the local labour market.
In terms of educational qualifications, non-school qualifications grew from 27.0 per cent of the population in 1996 to 37.6 per cent of the regional population in 2011. Amongst women, the strongest growth was a tripling in post-graduate degrees, albeit from a low base, to reach relative gender equality, at 48.7 per cent, compared to 25.9 per cent in 1996. Women also made strong gains at the certificate level, more than doubling their numbers. Despite these gains, certificate level qualifications are still dominated by men, with 63.7 per cent of certificate holders being men in 2011.
In North West Tasmania, earnings are more constrained than atthe national level, with 76.5 per cent of the working population earning $1,000 per week or less. Unlike both the RGA and Latrobe regions, the earnings disparity between men and women is lower than at the national level, with 68.7 per cent of men earning $1,000 per week or less, and 83.8 per cent of women earning $1,000 per week or less. The lower level of income inequality appears to be driven more by men's lower earnings than by higher female earnings.
Within couple families, there was an increase in the proportion of households where women earn higher incomes than men, from 13.1 percent in 1996 (higher than the Australian average of 12.2 per cent) to 15.4 per cent in 2011. It seems that this increase came from households where women's contribution was less than men's, as the proportion of households in this category fell from 52.4 per cent to 50.1 per cent. The proportion of households where men and women provide an equal contribution fluctuated from 34.5 per cent in 1996 to 36.9 per cent in 2006, returning to 34.5 per cent in 2011. This volatility suggests that the changes are due more to declines in men's employment and wages during the period rather than to a trend of improvement in women's employment levels or wages.
North West Tasmania has fared the worst of the three regions in terms of economic and employment growth. The region is currently experiencing a nadir of economic restructuring, with closures of companies in food, textile and farm equipment manufacturing. Employment growth has been strongest for women, although women's participation rate in the region continues to be lower than within the other regions and nationally. Part-time work has seen the strongest growth, but unlike the Greater Latrobe Valley and Regional Geelong Area, this has been stronger for women than men. While women's education and training improved more strongly than men's, the gender segregation within the regional labour market increased significantly.
The overall level of earnings within North West Tasmania is low, with fewer men represented in the highest income categories than in the other regions. The relatively low level of men's earnings has given the impression of improved gender equality in terms of women's wages and contribution to household income, but this has come at the expense of overall household income.
6. Discussion
In aggregate terms, there was strong employment growth across Australia from 1996to 2011. While national and industry trends have been important factors in changing employment patterns in each region, the shift share analysis demonstrates that region factors have had the most significant influence on employment trends in each region. The three regions experienced economic growth or decline during this period in different ways from each other and from the national experience. National, industry and regional growth have impacted differently on men and women within the regions and industry segregation has increased more in each of the regions than nationally. But how have these different experiences of economic restructuring impacted on overall gender equality within the labour markets and within households each region? Is it possible to observe the operation of segmentation, buffering and substitution on employment patterns for men and women?
The Regional Geelong Area has been experiencing an early phase of labour market and economic restructuring where one can observe the segmentation hypothesis in operation. Gender segregation of the labour market has operated to expose male-dominated occupations in manufacturing to significant decline in employment. Women's limited representation in manufacturing has, to some extent, protected them from declining employment within the region, while at the same time, their over-representation in the health care and social assistance sector has driven stronger growth in their employment.
The strong growth in part-time work may imply the operation of the buffer hypothesis, particularly as part-time workers are still predominantly women. However, at this stage of restructuring we are yet to observe a decline in part-time employment, or a significant increase in the number of men working part-time. The high levels of part-time work may also be attributable to social factors such as women's predominant roles as primary care givers within the household (Tannous and Smith 2013). The impact of these social factors may undermine the buffer hypothesis.
The substitution hypothesis would operate to decrease gender segregation of the labour market, with women entering male-dominated industries in greater numbers, albeit at lower pay and with poorer conditions. However, the Duncan and Duncan index shows that gender segregation has been increasing within the region and the shift share analysis shows that existing patterns of industry segregation have been reinforced during this period, suggesting that substitution is not in operation.
Women's increasing labour market participation and improving education levels have not been reflected in individual earnings, nor in women's overall contribution to household incomes. High levels of part-time work, combined with lower wage levels in female dominated industries such as retail, accommodation and health care and social assistance, have contributed to women's lower contributions to household income. Despite relatively strong growth within the Regional Geelong Area, the data suggest that gender equality has not improved, and that gender segregation of the labour market has worsened over this period.
The Greater Latrobe Valley has been in a post-restructuring recovery phase during the period under review. In its experience we can observe the operation of the segmentation hypothesis. The major decline in the region's employment during the 1990s occurred in the electricity, gas and water sector, with the loss of 5,000 jobs, principally held by men. Women's participation in the labour market had been relatively low compared to national figures at the time, but their lack of representation in the electricity, gas and water sector tended to protect their employment levels. An 'added worker effect' can be seen in the increasing participation rate and employment amongst women within the region. However, we can also observe that segmentation did not operate to protect women's employment during this recovery phase, with significant losses in women's employment in sectors such as education and training and finance and insurance.
While women have increasingly been drawn into the Greater Latrobe Valley regional labour market; the strong growth in women's part-time work implies the operation of the buffering hypothesis. Weak employment growth generally has been further moderated by the use of part-time employment. As suggested for the Regional Geelong Area, growth in women's part-time work in the Greater Latrobe Valley might also be linked to social factors such as primary care-giving roles within the household.
The increasing gender segregation of industry within the Greater Latrobe Valley suggests that there has not been a substitution of skilled men's employment for lower skilled women's employment. However, the increasing incidence of men's part-time employment may imply the erosion of quality full-time employment across all sectors of the regional labour market as a form of substitution of quality employment with non-standard forms of employment.
The initial impact of industry restructuring within the Greater Latrobe Valley region hit men's employment hardest, reducing gender inequality through a 'harmonising down' process. During this period women were drawn into the labour market in lower-paid, part-time employment. However, segmentation has not protected women's employment during the recovery phase and gender segregation of the labour market has been reinforced while household gender inequality has increased.
North West Tasmania has experienced significant restructuring in its manufacturing and forestry industry sectors, resulting in major job losses and significant economic decline. In forestry and manufacturing, job losses have impacted men and women relatively evenly. In the forestry sector this may be due to the high number of family-owned operations where job loss has impacted on all members of the household and inter-generationally (Bamberry et al. 2015). However, segmentation has not operated to protect or promote women's employment in the region, with poor levels of growth in female-dominated sectors that are dependent on population growth such as education and training, health care and retail trade. The increase in women's participation over the period does imply that there has been an 'added worker effect', while the decline in men's participation suggests that they have experienced a 'discouraged worker effect'.
Given the growth in part-time work has impacted relatively equally on men's and women's employment within the region, it does not appear that women are acting as a buffer in the labour market. Rather, the increase in part-time work for both men and women suggests an erosion of quality full-time work within the region. As in the other regions in this study, women's over-representation in part-time work also reflects their roles as primary caregivers within the household.
The reinforcing of industry segregation within the North West Tasmania regional labour market does not suggest that employers are substituting highly skilled men's labour with lower skilled women's labour. However, there does seem to be an erosion of standards of quality work across all sectors of the labour market, with the increase in part-time work. Wages within the region appear to be significantly lower than in the other two regions in this study and across Australia as a whole.
The initial impact of restructuring within North West Tasmania has been relatively even on men's and women's employment. There has been an apparent improvement in gender equality within the household, with women's contribution to household income increasing relative to men's. This change may be attributable to a decline in men's wages and employment within the region through 'harmonising down', but may also be attributable to women's increased participation in the labour market. Given the high levels of part-time work and lower levels of individual pay, it would appear that neither men nor women have experienced improvements in the quality of their employment.
7. Conclusion
To date there has been very little analysis of the impact of economic restructuring on gender in equality in regional labour markets and households. This paper has attempted to address this issue by analysing the impact of economic restructuring on gender equality within three Australian regional labour markets that have been experiencing different phases of economic restructuring.
The study suggests that regional analysis is useful because it highlights that national figures conceal a range of different economic experiences and obscure the impact of industry restructuring on particular regional labour markets. Regional analysis of gender inequality is also important because gender relations are experienced on a daily basis at the level of the regional labour market and the household.
Given the different phases of economic restructuring within each region, it is possible to observe whether each of the three hypotheses, segmentation, buffering and substitution may have operated within the region to change gender relations in the labour market and in households. However, further qualitative research will be necessary to identify alternative hypotheses to explore how industry restructuring and phases of economic growth and decline impact on gender inequality within regions.
In the Regional Geelong Area and the Greater Latrobe Valley we can observe the operation of the segmentation hypothesis, with women's employment protected to some extent from the initial impact of industry restructuring in manufacturing and in the electricity gas and water sector. However, in North West Tasmania the segmentation hypothesis does not have such strong explanatory power, given that restructuring in the forestry and manufacturing sectors have impacted more evenly on men and women.
Women's increasing participation rate in each region may be attributable to the 'added worker effect', however it may also be attributable to changing cultural values and social norms with changing expectations around women's right to work. Similarly, the declining participation rate for men may provide evidence for the 'discouraged worker effect'.
The increasing growth in part-time work may be evidence of a buffering effect, with employers buffering their demand for labour through the use of part-time work. In none of the regions did women's participation rate decline in response to restructuring, but it may be possible that the number of hours worked by both men and women were reduced through the mechanism of part-time work.
In each of the regions the gender segregation of industry has increased overtime and has increased significantly more at the regional level than nationally (Table 6), suggesting that employers have not significantly substituted women's less skilled employment for skilled men's employment. However, tight labour market conditions may have driven both men and women to accept employment with poorer pay and conditions, driving down employment quality for all participants in the labour market, and increasing the precarious nature of regional employment.
While this data does allow analysis of how gendered patterns of employment are changing over time, the data does not allow us to explore the causal relationships between changing labour market patterns and changing cultural values or social norms. Further qualitative study may facilitate this exploration.
On the whole, industry restructuring has had limited impact on gender equality within the regions. While there has been improvement in gender equality on some variables, there has been a worsening of others. Women's labour force participation has increased and educational qualifications have improved in the regions and nationally, but this has not translated into more equal pay. Employment within industries remains highly gender segregated and each phase of restructuring has tended to reinforce or exacerbate gender segregation in these regional labour markets. Where women have apparently achieved a more equal contribution to household income this appears to be at the expense of men's falling incomes, rather than an increase in women's earnings.
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(1) The regional shift share analysis decomposes the change in regional employment in a particular industry (employment in that regional industry in the most recent year-employment in that regional industry in the first year of study) into three components: change due to the national employment growth rate, change due to changes in the national industry structure and a regional effect which is the residual and picks up factors particular to the region. We label these the national growth effect, the national industry structure effect and the regional effect. This is expressed in formula as
[mathematical expression not reproducible].
where e is the regional employment in industry i at time t and E is national employment in industry i at time t and the two time periods considered are t = 2011 and t-15 = 1996.
Larissa Bamberry (*)
(*) School of Management and Marketing, Charles Sturt University, Australia, [email protected]
Table 1: Key elements of labour market change, 1996-2011, Australia,
Regional Geelong Area, Greater Latrobe Valley and North West Tasmania
Participation Rate Annual average
growth in
employment
1996 2011 1996-2011
(%) (%) (%)
Australia
Males 69.5 66.9 1.7
Females 51.7 56.1 2.6
Persons 60.4 61.4 2.1
Regional Geelong Area
Males 67.9 65.9 2.1
Females 48.0 54.8 3.6
Persons 57.6 60.1 2.7
Greater Latrobe Valley
Males 69.6 63.9 1.0
Females 48.2 52.5 2.4
Persons 58.7 58.0 1.6
North West Tasmarlia
Males 67.7 62.4 0.3
Females 45.6 51.1 1.9
Persons 56.3 56.6 1.0
Annual average
growth in part-time
employment Proportion of
employment
part-time
1996-2011 2011
(%) (%)
Australia
Males 3.7 18
Females 3.1 44
Persons 3.3 30
Regional Geelong Area
Males 4.8 19.0
Females 4.3 52.5
Persons 4.5 34.8
Greater Latrobe Valley
Males 3.3 17.3
Females 3.2 52.3
Persons 3.3 33.7
North West Tasmarlia
Males 2.3 19.0
Females 2.7 51.7
Persons 2.6 34.4
Annual average
population growth
Proportion of
part-time workers
2011 1996-2011
(%) (%)
Australia
Males 32.1 1.7
Females 67.9 1.7
Persons 100 1.7
Regional Geelong Area
Males 28.7 1.7
Females 71.3 1.8
Persons 100 1.8
Greater Latrobe Valley
Males 27.4 1.0
Females 72.6 1.2
Persons 100 1.1
North West Tasmarlia
Males 29.1 0.4
Females 70.9 0.6
Persons 100 0.5
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing (1996, 2001, 2006, 2011a)
Table 2: Duncan and Duncan index of dissimilarity
1996 2001 2006 2011
Australia 0.3061 0.3058 0.3105 0.3149
Regional Geelong Area 0.3585 0.3664 0.3659 0.3814
Greater Latrobe Valley 0.3683 0.3849 0.4145 0.4250
North West Tasmania 0.3614 0.3810 0.3960 0.4255
Table 3: Regional Geelong Area, Shift share analysis of employment by
industry
Actual change in National employment
employment growth effect
Agriculture, forestry
and fishing -173 717
Mining 161 47
Manufacturing -2290 4804
Electricity, gas, water
and waste services 521 266
Construction 6196 1752
Wholesale trade 430 1130
Retail trade 4574 3072
Accommodation and
food services 2415 1729
Transport, postal and
warehousing 1849 980
Information media and
telecommunications 39 452
Financial and
insurance services 1035 689
Rental, hiring and real 641 276
estate services
Professional, scientific
and technical services 1699 1360
Administrative and 1579 588
support services
Public administration
and safety 2811 1313
Education and training 3691 2200
Health care and
social assistance 7388 2609
Arts and
recreation services 903 289
Other services 776 1091
Total 34245 25367
National industry Regional effect
structure effect
Agriculture, forestry
and fishing -1237 347
Mining 109 5
Manufacturing -5134 -1961
Electricity, gas, water
and waste services 292 -37
Construction 2442 2002
Wholesale trade -1289 589
Retail trade 405 1096
Accommodation and
food services 258 428
Transport, postal and
warehousing 53 816
Information media and
telecommunications -561 148
Financial and
insurance services -96 442
Rental, hiring and real 20 345
estate services
Professional, scientific
and technical services 1053 -715
Administrative and 393 598
support services
Public administration
and safety 670 828
Education and training 841 650
Health care and
social assistance 2577 2202
Arts and
recreation services 82 532
Other services -641 325
Total 236 8642
Actual change in National women's
women's employment employment growth effect
Agriculture, forestry
and fishing -99 235
Mining 15 5
Manufacturing -850 1089
Electricity, gas, water
and waste services 156 47
Construction 527 211
Wholesale trade 335 290
Retail trade 2969 1791
Accommodation and
food services 1461 1033
Transport, postal and
warehousing 322 187
Information media and
telecommunications 48 181
Financial and
insurance services 620 398
Rental, hiring and real 393 121
estate services
Professional, scientific
and technical services 912 560
Administrative and 795 302
support services
Public administration
and safety 1862 496
Education and training 2905 1370
Health care and
social assistance 6057 2129
Arts and
recreation services 382 149
Other services 522 450
Total 19332 11044
National women's industry Regional women's
structure effect employment effect
Agriculture, forestry
and fishing -413 78
Mining 23 -13
Manufacturing -1368 -571
Electricity, gas, water
and waste services 172 -63
Construction 291 25
Wholesale trade -249 294
Retail trade 456 722
Accommodation and
food services 161 267
Transport, postal and
warehousing 37 98
Information media and
telecommunications -210 77
Financial and
insurance services -163 385
Rental, hiring and real 68 203
estate services
Professional, scientific
and technical services 458 -106
Administrative and 334
support services 159
Public administration
and safety 887 479
Education and training 995 540
Health care and
social assistance 2265 1664
Arts and
recreation services 28 206
Other services -93 166
Total 3502 4786
Table 4: Greater Latrobe Valley Shift share analysis of employment by
industry
Actual change in National employment
employment growth effect
Agriculture, forestry
and fishing -1,424 1,882
Mining 310 279
Manufacturing 578 1,702
Electricity, gas, water
and waste services 43 810
Construction 2,674 1,177
Wholesale trade -145 637
Retail trade 2,028 1,812
Accommodation and
food services 1,153 890
Transport, postal and
warehousing 822 513
Information media and
telecommunications -156 240
Financial and
insurance services -488 537
Rental, hiring and real
estate services 152 170
Professional, scientific
and technical services 426 621
Administrative and 338 439
support services
Public administration
and safety 1,555 978
Education and training 1,026 1,445
Health care and
social assistance 3,720 1,444
Arts and
recreation services 145 162
Other services 349 726
Total 13,106 16,461
National industry Regional effect
structure effect
Agriculture, forestry
and fishing -3,246 -61
Mining 642 -611
Manufacturing -1,819 695
Electricity, gas, water
and waste services 888 -1,654
Construction 1,641 -143
Wholesale trade -727 -55
Retail trade 239 -23
Accommodation and
food services 133 131
Transport, postal and
warehousing 27 282
Information media and
telecommunications -297 -98
Financial and
insurance services -75 -950
Rental, hiring and real
estate services 12 -30
Professional, scientific
and technical services 481 -675
Administrative and 293 -394
support services
Public administration
and safety 499 79
Education and training 553 -971
Health care and
social assistance 1,426 850
Arts and
recreation services 46 -64
Other services -426 49
Total 289 -3,644
Actual change in National women's
women's employment employment growth effect
Agriculture, forestry
and fishing -598 664
Mining 12 26
Manufacturing 6 360
Electricity, gas, water
and waste services 94 70
Construction 352 121
Wholesale trade -5 154
Retail trade 1,466 1,039
Accommodation and
food services 837 554
Transport, postal and
warehousing 151 122
Information media and
telecommunications -28 101
Financial and
insurance services -407 374
Rental, hiring and real
estate services 113 83
Professional, scientific
and technical services 323 269
Administrative and 231
support services 198
Public administration
and safety 1,366 360
Education and training 1,062 952
Health care and
social assistance 3,175 1,181
Arts and
recreation services 58 89
Other services 142 311
Total 8,211 7,028
National women's industry Regional women's
structure effect employment effect
Agriculture, forestry
and fishing -1,164 -97
Mining 128 -142
Manufacturing -452 98
Electricity, gas, water
and waste services 255 -231
Construction 166 65
Wholesale trade -132 -26
Retail trade 264 162
Accommodation and
food services 86 197
Transport, postal and
warehousing 24 5
Information media and
telecommunications -118 -12
Financial and
insurance services -153 -627
Rental, hiring and real
estate services 47 -17
Professional, scientific
and technical services 220 -166
Administrative and 104
support services -71
Public administration
and safety 644 362
Education and training 691 -581
Health care and
social assistance 1,257 737
Arts and
recreation services 16 -47
Other services -65 -104
Total 1,819 -496
Table 5: North West Tasmania Shift share analysis of employment by
industry
Actual change in National employment
employment growth effect
Agriculture, forestry -556 1108
and fishing
Mining 640 140
Manufacturing -149 1720
Electricity, gas, water 184 84
and waste services
Construction 1125 671
Wholesale trade -47 574
Retail trade 884 1293
Accommodation and
food services 670 674
Transport, postal and
warehousing 321 605
Information media and
telecommunications -137 141
Financial and
insurance services -118 239
Rental, hiring and real
estate services -99 179
Professional, scientific
and technical services 288 324
Administrative and 622 219
support services
Public administration
and safety 996 487
Education and training 736 856
Health care and
social assistance 1149 1143
Arts and
recreation services 31 80
Other services 74 515
Total 6614 11052
National industry
structure effect Regional effect
Agriculture, forestry -1910 246
and fishing
Mining 321 179
Manufacturing -1838 -31
Electricity, gas, water 92 8
and waste services
Construction 936 -483
Wholesale trade -655 34
Retail trade 171 -580
Accommodation and
food services 100 -104
Transport, postal and
warehousing 32 -316
Information media and
telecommunications -175 -103
Financial and
insurance services -33 -324
Rental, hiring and real
estate services 13 -290
Professional, scientific
and technical services 251 -287
Administrative and 146 256
support services
Public administration
and safety 249 260
Education and training 328 -448
Health care and
social assistance 1129 -1122
Arts and
recreation services 23 -72
Other services -302 -138
Total -1123 -3315
Actual change in National women's
women's employment employment growth effect
Agriculture, forestry -135 322
and fishing
Mining 69 11
Manufacturing -106 448
Electricity, gas, water 39 7
and waste services
Construction 115 72
Wholesale trade 36 132
Retail trade 765 712
Accommodation and
food services 587 442
Transport, postal and
warehousing 108 121
Information media and
telecommunications -43 62
Financial and
insurance services 11 144
Rental, hiring and real
estate services 44 69
Professional, scientific
and technical services 226 155
Administrative and 407 107
support services
Public administration
and safety 858 174
Education and training 702 567
Health care and
social assistance 1048 900
Arts and
recreation services 1 43
Other services 120 194
Total 4852 4683
National women's industry Regional women's
structure effect employment effect
Agriculture, forestry -565 108
and fishing
Mining 56 2
Manufacturing -562 9
Electricity, gas, water 27 5
and waste services
Construction 100 -57
Wholesale trade -113 18
Retail trade 181 -128
Accommodation and
food services 69 76
Transport, postal and
warehousing 24 -38
Information media and
telecommunications -71 -33
Financial and
insurance services -59 -74
Rental, hiring and real
estate services 39 -65
Professional, scientific
and technical services 127 -55
Administrative and 56 244
support services
Public administration
and safety 312 371
Education and training 412 -277
Health care and
social assistance 958 -810
Arts and
recreation services 8 -50
Other services -40 -34
Total 956 -787
Table 6: Proportion of industry female, 1996 and 2011, Australia,
Regional Geelong Area, Greater Latrobe Valley and North West Tasmania
Regional Greater
Australia Geelong Area Latrobe Valley
1996 2011 1996 2011 1996 2011
Agriculture, forestry
and fishing 30.4% 30.0% 32.8% 30.8% 35.3% 33.1%
Mining 12.5% 17.4% 10.1% 9.7% 9.4% 8.0%
Manufacturing 27.7% 26.0% 22.7% 20.1% 21.2% 19.2%
Electricity, gas, water
and waste services 16.1% 23.9% 17.6% 22.3% 8.6% 12.1%
Construction 13.3% 13.2% 12.0% 10.2% 10.2% 11.5%
Wholesale trade 31.5% 34.5% 25.6% 31.3% 24.1% 25.7%
Retail trade 56.2% 57.8% 58.3% 60.4% 57.4% 61.3%
Accommodation 56.1% 56.2% 59.7% 60.0% 62.2% 65.3%
and food services
Transport, postal
and warehousing 22.4% 23.2% 19.1% 18.4% 23.8% 22.0%
Information
media and 40.7% 41.8% 40.0% 42.2% 42.3% 48.7%
telecommunications
Financial and
insurance services 57.0% 53.2% 57.8% 58.4% 69.6% 64.0%
Rental, hiring and
real estate services 45.6% 50.9% 44.0% 51.4% 49.0% 54.6%
Professional, scientific
and technical services 44.2% 44.6% 41.2% 44.7% 43.3% 49.1%
Administrative and 53.1% 51.5% 51.4% 50.9% 45.1% 49.7%
support services
Public administration
and safety 36.1% 46.0% 37.8% 49.3% 36.8% 53.9%
Education and
training 65.1% 70.1% 62.3% 68.0% 65.9% 72.8%
Health care and
social assistance 77.8% 79.0% 81.6% 81.8% 81.8% 83.4%
Arts and
recreation services 48.7% 47.6% 51.5% 46.9% 54.7% 51.4%
Other services 39.9% 44.1% 41.2% 46.0% 42.8% 42.5%
Northwest
Tasmania
1996 2011
Agriculture, forestry
and fishing 29.1% 30.0%
Mining 8.2% 9.7%
Manufacturing 26.0% 24.8%
Electricity, gas, water
and waste services 8.7% 13.8%
Construction 10.8% 10.6%
Wholesale trade 22.9% 25.6%
Retail trade 55.0% 60.7%
Accommodation 65.6% 70.9%
and food services
Transport, postal
and warehousing 20.1% 22.0%
Information
media and 43.6% 49.0%
telecommunications
Financial and
insurance services 60.1% 73.0%
Rental, hiring and
real estate services 38.9% 56.7%
Professional, scientific
and technical services 47.7% 54.5%
Administrative and 48.8% 56.7%
support services
Public administration
and safety 35.8% 55.6%
Education and
training 66.2% 72.5%
Health care and
social assistance 78.8% 81.8%
Arts and
recreation services 53.8% 48.2%
Other services 37.8% 43.2%
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics Census of Population and
Housing (1996, 2011a)
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| Author: | Bamberry, Larissa |
|---|---|
| Publication: | Australian Bulletin of Labour |
| Geographic Code: | 8AUST |
| Date: | Mar 1, 2017 |
| Words: | 11921 |
| Previous Article: | Decentralised Bargaining in Denmark and Australia: Voluntarism versus Legal Regulation. |
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