ABSTRACT
This chapter seeks to identify disadvantage as it affects children, shows how disadvantage arises, and discusses possible pathways from disadvantage. Australia does not fare particularly well, whether one uses relative or absolute measures of income-based poverty. The chapter discusses the importance of the employment of parents as a pathway from disadvantage for children when they are young, and the even greater importance of employment as a pathway from disadvantage as young people themselves make the transition to adulthood. Australia had few distinctive features, though the children of unskilled labourers were somewhat less likely to be unskilled themselves than any of their European counterparts. The model that summarises the European pattern fits the Australian data quite well when these few distinctive features are taken into account. The chapter takes a strong position to the effect that it matters to children whether or not their parents are employed.
