Fair Queensland - Jobless Families
2020 Target: Halve the proportion of Queensland children living in a household without a working parent
Measure: proportion of children under 15 years living in a jobless household (source: Australian Bureau of Statistics Survey of Income and Housing).
Lead agency: Department of Employment and Industrial Relations.
Current levels of disadvantage
More than 130,000 Queensland children aged under 15 years are living in a home without a working parent.
In some cases there may be positive aspects for some children living in a home with a parent who doesn't work. For example, parents may have taken time off to care for their children or to undertake study to improve their job opportunities.
But research shows that children living in jobless households are at greater risk of disadvantage. They're less likely to do well at school or in the workforce and more likely to end up in the criminal justice system.
To give these children the best chance at success in the future we must renew our efforts to help jobless parents back into the workforce.
Achievements since September 2007
- Launched a new four-year $18 million strategy – Participate in Prosperity – to help disadvantaged Queenslanders join the workforce.
- Established an innovative early intervention program in the Logan-Beenleigh area to help young parents and young people with a mental illness get on their feet.
Challenges
Long-term unemployment: in 2007, the long-term unemployed represented about 14% of all people unemployed in Queensland. People who are unemployed long-term must overcome greater challenges to getting a job such as loss of confidence and motivation, a lack of recent work experience or outdated skills.
Rising childcare costs: average childcare fees for long day care services in Queensland jumped almost 50% between 1997 and 2006 to $214 a week. Combined with further price increases over the past few years, this has made child care unaffordable for some families. Not being able to afford child care is a significant barrier preventing some unemployed parents from working or getting the training they need to enter the workforce.
Achieving the target
To ensure fewer Queensland children are living in homes without working parents by 2020, all levels of government, industry and the community must work together.
The Queensland Government will play its part by:
- targeting employment programs at particularly disadvantaged and long-term unemployed Queenslanders to get them into the workforce
- providing unemployed parents with training and support, including contributions to childcare and transport costs, to help them into the workforce
- funding traineeships through subsidies to local government authorities and not-for-profit community organisations to employ disadvantaged jobseekers as trainees
- establishing Early Years Centres in areas of high growth that bring together a range of early childhood services, including family support, health referral services, play groups and child care.
We also need the Australian Government to support our efforts by increasing support for return-to-work programs for unemployed parents.
We need businesses to create flexible work options that encourage parents back into the workforce. This could include creating job sharing opportunities for parents or staggering working hours to accommodate family responsibilities.
We need individuals and families to take up the support and opportunities on offer to create a better future for themselves and their children.
Share your ideas
What could your business or community do to support unemployed parents back into work? Share your ideas
Last updated Monday, February 09, 2009
^ to top
