The line graph shows the employment of men and women aged 18-34 in Australia from 1976 to 2011. Overall, employment among both genders showed a clear decline over the period, with men experiencing a steep decrease while maintaining a similar gap between age groups. By contrast, female employment was higher at younger ages, in some cases even exceeding that of males, but gradually declined toward later adulthood, with almost no employment recorded in the oldest age brackets. However, the older men were, the higher their employment rate was.
Male employment was relatively high even among younger age brackets at the outset, with a considerable 55% of 18-year-olds in work. This proportion increased steadily with age, reaching nearly 70% among those aged 26, before leveling off and then declining marginally to approximately 67% for individuals aged 27-29. However, employment rates rose sharply thereafter, peaking at 90% among men aged 34. By 2011, these figures had fallen by almost 15% for the youngest age group, standing at around 42%. Despite this decline, the disparity across age groups remained evident and followed a pattern similar to that observed in 1976, with approximately 73% of the oldest age group being employed.
A similar pattern was observed among females, although the overall decline was less pronounced. In 1976, approximately 52% of 18-year-old women were employed, after which the figure decreased progressively across age groups. A more marked drop was evident around the age of 25, before falling dramatically to nearly zero among the oldest cohort. Over the period, employment among the youngest females declined slightly to about 47%, while a modest increase was recorded for those aged 24-26. As women entered their 30s, employment levels generally decreased further, ultimately reaching almost zero among those aged 33-34.