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LEARN MORE ABOUT .idIn 2021, 9.7% of 15 to 24 year olds in Australia were disengaged with employment and education, compared to 9.0% in Greater Capital Cities.
Engagement in employment and education looks at the level of participation by age and sex of the population in the labour market, or full or part-time education. A full time employed or full-time student would be "Fully engaged", while part-time students may be fully engaged if they are also employed, or partly engaged if they are not working. Engagement in the labour and education market is highly dependent on age. Retirees are generally disengaged, while stay-at-home parents are also likely to be disengaged. The rate of engagement, particularly in the younger and working age groups can be affected by access to strong employment and education markets and is a measure of socio-economic status and the level of welfare dependency in an area. For more detail on employment and educational characteristics associated with disengagement, please look at Employment Status, Qualifications and Educational Institution Attending.
Further reading: Using demographics to inform gender equality
Q:
Derived from the two Census questions:
'Last week did the person have a full time or part time job of any kind?' and 'What type of educational institution is the person attending?'
| Workforce and educational engagement by age | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia - Males aged 15+ (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2016 | Change | |||||
| Age group | Engagement status | Number | % | Greater Capital Cities % | Number | % | Greater Capital Cities % | 2016 to 2021 |
| 15 to 24 years | Fully engaged | 1,126,610 | 72.4 | 74.4 | 1,117,769 | 73.4 | 75.9 | +8,841 |
| 15 to 24 years | Partially engaged | 187,200 | 12.0 | 11.6 | 161,849 | 10.6 | 10.0 | +25,351 |
| 15 to 24 years | Disengaged | 150,820 | 9.7 | 9.0 | 147,543 | 9.7 | 8.5 | +3,277 |
| 15 to 24 years | Undetermined/Not stated | 91,539 | 5.9 | 5.0 | 95,955 | 6.3 | 5.6 | -4,416 |
| 15 to 24 years | Total | 1,556,169 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 1,523,116 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +33,053 |
| 25 to 54 years | Fully engaged | 3,309,837 | 64.9 | 65.9 | 3,213,489 | 67.8 | 69.7 | +96,348 |
| 25 to 54 years | Partially engaged | 821,449 | 16.1 | 16.5 | 607,924 | 12.8 | 12.6 | +213,525 |
| 25 to 54 years | Disengaged | 614,262 | 12.1 | 11.8 | 559,245 | 11.8 | 11.0 | +55,017 |
| 25 to 54 years | Undetermined/Not stated | 351,463 | 6.9 | 5.9 | 356,207 | 7.5 | 6.7 | -4,744 |
| 25 to 54 years | Total | 5,097,011 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 4,736,865 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +360,146 |
| 55 to 64 years | Fully engaged | 693,508 | 47.3 | 49.0 | 637,495 | 47.5 | 50.1 | +56,013 |
| 55 to 64 years | Partially engaged | 275,042 | 18.8 | 19.0 | 221,066 | 16.5 | 16.2 | +53,976 |
| 55 to 64 years | Disengaged | 411,890 | 28.1 | 27.4 | 387,559 | 28.9 | 27.5 | +24,331 |
| 55 to 64 years | Undetermined/Not stated | 84,981 | 5.8 | 4.7 | 95,352 | 7.1 | 6.2 | -10,371 |
| 55 to 64 years | Total | 1,465,421 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 1,341,472 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +123,949 |
| 65 years and over | Fully engaged | 171,298 | 8.4 | 8.5 | 135,781 | 8.0 | 8.2 | +35,517 |
| 65 years and over | Partially engaged | 187,452 | 9.2 | 9.5 | 144,038 | 8.5 | 8.8 | +43,414 |
| 65 years and over | Disengaged | 1,526,917 | 74.7 | 75.3 | 1,253,846 | 73.6 | 74.0 | +273,071 |
| 65 years and over | Undetermined/Not stated | 157,054 | 7.7 | 6.7 | 170,696 | 10.0 | 9.0 | -13,642 |
| 65 years and over | Total | 2,042,721 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 1,704,361 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +338,360 |
| Total aged 15+ | Fully engaged | 5,301,253 | 52.2 | 54.8 | 5,104,534 | 54.9 | 58.2 | +196,719 |
| Total aged 15+ | Partially engaged | 1,471,143 | 14.5 | 14.8 | 1,134,877 | 12.2 | 12.0 | +336,266 |
| Total aged 15+ | Disengaged | 2,703,889 | 26.6 | 24.7 | 2,348,193 | 25.2 | 23.0 | +355,696 |
| Total aged 15+ | Undetermined/Not stated | 685,037 | 6.7 | 5.7 | 718,210 | 7.7 | 6.8 | -33,173 |
| Total aged 15+ | Total | 10,161,322 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 9,305,814 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +855,508 |
Dominant groups
The number of people aged 15 to 24 years in Australia in 2016 was 1,556,169, of this, 9.7% were disengaged and 12.0% were partially engaged, compared to 9.0% and 11.6% respectively for Greater Capital Cities.
Emerging groups
Between 2016 and 2021, the number of people 15 to 24 years in Australia showed an increase of 33,053.
The number of disengaged people aged 15 to 24 years showed an increase of 3,277 or 2.2%.
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