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Unemployment and Youth Suicide

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Stephen Morrell ,
Andrew Page  and
Richard Taylor
Stephen Morrell
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, The University of Sydney
Andrew Page
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, The University of Sydney
Richard Taylor
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, The University of Sydney
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Abstract

Suicide rates in younger age groups in Australia, and in a number of other similar Western countries, have increased substantially since the 1960s. In Australia this rise has occurred contemporaneously with rises in youth unemployment rates, especially in males. Aggregate analyses investigating the relationship between these trends are reviewed for Australia, and compared with similar international aggregate studies of youth suicide and unemployment. Individual based studies investigating the role of unemployment in the causal pathways associated with suicide are also considered in this review. Aggregate suicide and unemployment data for males aged 20–24 years is presented to illustrate the changing relationship between unemployment and youth suicide over 1921–1998. The relationship between youth suicide rates and unemployment rates, particularly in males, is discussed in terms of the utility of using such indicators in evaluating suicide prevention initiatives. The applicability of aggregate variables in multi-dimensional explanations of suicide is also discussed.

Type
Meeting Report
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 12 , Issue 1 , June 2001 , pp. 4 - 17
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2001

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