This study uses the longitudinal data from the Building a New Life in Australia survey to examine the relationships between human capital and labour market participation and employment status among ...recently arrived/approved humanitarian migrants. We find that the likelihood of participating in the labour force is higher for those who had pre-immigration paid job experience, completed study/job training and have better job searching knowledge/skills in Australia and possess higher proficiency in spoken English. We find that the chance of getting a paid job is negatively related to having better pre-immigration education, but it is positively related to having unpaid work experience and job searching skills in Australia, and better health. We also explore the ethical implications of the findings.
This article examines the increased interest being shown by Australian business faculties in the development of students' employability skills. Many universities have demonstrated their commitment to ...translating such interest into practice by elaborating lists of 'graduate attributes' in order to enable the development of generic skills and by encouraging their staff to adopt specific pedagogical tools for such ends. This approach is underpinned by the assumption that the acquisition and transferability of such skills can enhance students' human capital and, therefore, their employability. The aim in this article is to identify the limitations of this perspective and to present a conceptual framework that overcomes them. To this end, the article draws on various concepts elaborated by Bourdieu as a means to encompass the multiple stakeholders involved in the field of tertiary education and to investigate the adoption of teaching methodologies designed to enable the development of generic skills.
This article combines Bourdieu's concepts of field, habitus and cultural capital with Lyotard's account of performativity to construct a three-tiered framework in order to explore how managerialism ...has affected the academic habitus. Specifically, this article examines the adoption of group assignments as a means of developing teamwork skills in one Australian case study organisation. On a macrolevel, by viewing the employability imperative as one manifestation of managerialism in the higher education field, we argue that managerialism has created a performative culture in the case study organisation evidenced by an increasing emphasis on performance indicators. On a mesolevel, by examining how academics use group assessments to respond to demands made by governments and employers for 'employable graduates', we highlight the continuity of academic habitus. Finally, on a microlevel by drawing on alumni reflections regarding their experiences of group assessments at university, we are able to shed some light on their evaluation of this pedagogical tool. (HRK / Abstract übernommen).
The expected year-on-year intrinsic mortality variations/changes are largely overlooked in the existing research when estimating the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on mortality patterns. To fill ...this gap, this study provides a new assessment of the loss of life expectancy caused by COVID-19 in 27 countries considering both the actual and the expected changes in life expectancy between 2019 and 2020. Life expectancy in 2020 and the expected life expectancy in the absence of COVID-19 are estimated using the Lee-Carter model and data primarily from the Human Mortality Database. The results show that life expectancy in 21 of the 27 countries was expected to increase in 2020 had COVID-19 not occurred. By considering the expected mortality changes between 2019 and 2020, the study shows that, on average, the loss of life expectancy among the 27 countries in 2020 amounted to 1.33 year (95% CI 1.29-1.37) at age 15 and 0.91 years (95% CI 0.88-0.94) at age 65. Our results suggest that if the year-on-year intrinsic variations/changes in mortality were considered, the effects of COVID-19 on mortality are more profound than previously understood. This is particularly prominent for countries experiencing greater life expectancy increase in recent years.
Migrant health constitutes an important public health issue; however, variations in the ‘healthy migrant effect’ among migrants of different nativity are not adequately understood. To fill this gap, ...this study examines the life expectancy (LE) and healthy life expectancy (HLE) of the Australian-born population and eight major migrant groups in Australia for 2006, 2011 and 2016. The results show that compared with the Australian-born population, the foreign-born population overall had a higher LE and HLE but a lower HLE/LE ratio. Considerable variations in migrant health status according to nativity were also observed. Specifically, migrants from South Africa, Britain and Germany exhibited a similar or higher LE, HLE and HLE/LE ratio, while those from China, India, Italy and Greece had a higher LE but a significantly lower HLE/LE ratio compared with the Australian-born population. Lebanese migrants were the only group who experienced an unchanging LE and a declining HLE from 2006 to 2016. These notable differences in migrants' health outcomes with respect to nativity may be explained by the sociocultural differences between the origin and host countries and the different extents of migration selectivity of different migrant groups. Targeted countermeasures such as improving the quality of life of migrants from culturally diverse backgrounds or with negative migration experiences are suggested.
•Migrants as a whole have a higher LE and HLE than the Australia-born population.•However, migrants' ratio of HLE/LE stands lower than the Australia-born individuals.•Considerable nativity variations with respect to migrant's HLE outcomes exist.•Migrants with West European origin exhibit similar HLE outcomes with Australia-born.•Asian and South European migrants show a lower HLE/LE ratio than Australian-born.
The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 no longer a global health emergency on 5th May 2023; however, the impact of COVID-19 on life expectancy throughout the pandemic period is not clear. ...This study aimed to quantify and decompose the changes in life expectancy during 2019–2023 and corresponding age and gender disparities in 27 countries.
Data were sourced from the Human Mortality Database, the World Population Prospects 2022 and the United Kingdom's Office for National Statistics. Life expectancy was estimated using the abridged life table method, while differentials of life expectancies were decomposed using the age-decomposition algorithm.
There was an overall reduction in life expectancy at age 5 among the 27 countries in 2020. Life expectancy rebounded in Western, Northern and Southern Europe in 2021 but further decreased in the United States, Chile and Eastern Europe in the same year. In 2022 and after, lost life expectancy years in the United States, Chile and Eastern Europe were slowly regained; however, as of 7th May 2023, life expectancy in 22 of the 27 countries had not fully recovered to its pre-pandemic level. The reduced life expectancy in 2020 was mainly driven by reduced life expectancy at age 65+, while that in subsequent years was mainly driven by reduced life expectancy at age 45–74. Women experienced a lower reduction in life expectancy at most ages but a greater reduction at age 85+.
The pandemic has caused substantial short-term mortality variations during 2019–2023 in the 27 countries studied. Although most of the 27 countries experienced increased life expectancy after 2022, life expectancy in 22 countries still has not entirely regained its pre-pandemic level by May 2023. Threats of COVID-19 are more prominent for older adults and men, but special attention is needed for women aged 85+ years.
•Life expectancy (LE) decreased significantly in 2020 in the 27 countries examined.•Trends of LE diverged remarkably in 2021 but LE overall recovered in 2022 and 2023.•However, LE has not fully regained pre-pandemic level in 22 of the 27 countries.•Threats of COVID-19 on older adults declined but somewhat rose for younger people.•Women of very advanced ages are more vulnerable to COVID-19.
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