Social Sciences Essay: Systemic Racism and the Labor Market in Australia

Systemic Racism and the Labor Market in Australia
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Systemic Racism and the Labor Market in Australia
Problem Statement
Racism in Australia has been on the rise, despite concerns being raised on the same. Interest groups and policymakers have raised concerns on racism spreading out in different sectors and thus affecting the economy. In recent times, it has affected different institutions and the labor sector. Such form of racism is referred to as systemic and institutionalized racism and it is perpetrated against indigenous people in Australia. Longhi’s (2017) study focused on the racial wage differences recorded in different countries. The research summarized his findings in the following figure.


Figure 1: Racial Wage Differentials across Minorities in the UK (1993-2007)
Source: Longhi’s (2017)
The study showed that ethnic and racial minorities in many developed countries are paid less compared to their white minority. Although the racial wage differentials could be associated with immigration, they are persistent for racial and ethnic minorities for several generations. This implies that wage differentials are rampant in labor markets due to racial and ethnic differences. The researcher also notes the need for a social policy that aims at eliminating racial wage differentials as well as promoting equality in terms of pay and opportunities among citizens regardless of their racial backgrounds.
The statistics presented show that systemic and institutionalized racism in Australia is on the rise. As such, the focus of this essay is analyze and give insight on how to understand the broader shifts in the policy environment in Australia, the extent to which they reproduce and reflect systemic and institutionalized racism, and how they contribute to increased rates of criminalization in the country. Such sites of social welfare as social housing and child protection enhance understanding of racism, and institutional and systemic forms of racism in the country play out in different ways, thus influencing the manner in which the indigenous people interact with criminal justice in Australia. The topic is important because statistics show that the rate of racism and discrimination in the labor markets in Australia is on the rise, with the statistics being against Aboriginals and other migrants. As such, there is a need to comprehend the factors motibvating racism in the markets so as to inform policy makers in formulating the appropriate policies to address the issue.
Discussion and Review of Literature
In his study, Jones (1993) sought to compare the Aborigines and the descendants of the Anglo-Celtic majority. The study examined three labor market outcomes so as to measure the extent of aboriginal disadvantage; job status, unemployment, and hourly earnings. The study showed that gender is one of the factors that contribute to racism since their findings showed that there is a ‘glass ceiling’ which compresses the women’s earnings among Aborigines. As such, men who are employed in large firms are more financially stable then women since large firms have well-defined career paths and internal markets for men. On the other hand, women benefit more from public employment compared to men. In addition, they showed that Aborigines and women get lower financial returns in regard to their socio-economic status since they work in jobs where promotion prospects are poor. According to Jones (1993), these gender and ethnic inequalities are mainly caused by weak formal labor market attachment, occupational segregation, lower educational qualifications of Aborigines, and inadequate promotion opportunities. Therefore, these are the factors that contribute to racism and gender profiling in the labor market in Australia.
Markwick et al. (2019) also noted that racism has become a major determinant of health among Indigenous Australians, and thus conducted their study to establish the effect of racism on equal access to healthcare in the labor markets. The study showed that the rate of racism among Indigenous Victorian adults was four times that of non-Indigenous Australians over the last 1 year. The study showed that such racism was associated with the Indigenous status, age of the participants, and lack of social trust. Further, there was a strong correlation between education and racism against the Indigenous respondents. As such, this implies that the racism that is directed towards the Indigenous Victorians at the workplace is significant, and it is mainly attributed to their Indigenous origin. The study shows that race was one of the factors for racism in the labor markets.
Biddle et al. (2019) also sought to establish the experiences of Asian-Australians due to discrimination. The researchers collected data from Asian-Australians so as to inform their research. The paper presented data that was summarized from the large dataset collected from the Asian-Australian population sample in regard to their experiences of discrimination in labor markets. The findings showed that there are high rates of discrimination against Asian-Australians, with the factors contributing to the same being racial backgrounds and gaining leadership positions. The study notes that there is no policy interventions that are focused on addressing the discrimination witnessed in labor markets in the country. However, the data presented in the paper can be used to inform policy debate on the topic and thus guide policy makers in making policies that address discrimination at workplaces. The findings of the study are available at the Australian Data Archive and thus readily accessible to policy makers.
In a different study by the Australian Human Rights Commission (2012), it was established that although racist behaviors can emanate from or be directed against any racial group, some individuals in the country are more vulnerable to discrimination and racism than others. The study showed that the Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal people are more vulnerable since they are from linguistically and culturally diverse backgrounds from the natives. Further, the study showed that individu...