Illustration: Jim Pavlidis And every decade, the proportion of women working in the highest fifth of jobs by skill level has risen. Coelli and Borland use occupational earnings data as an indicator of job skill level. So it's also true to say that more women are working in high-paid jobs, and fewer in low-paid jobs. But the same cannot be said for men. True, the proportion of men working in the highest fifth of skilled jobs rose in every decade, but to a lesser extent than the gains for women.

A pro-Donald Trump supporter protests in Melbourne last week. Credit:Darrian Traynor But crucially, the share of men working in the lowest skilled jobs also rose in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, although not in the 2000s. When it comes to the workforce, it is far from clear that men today fare better than their fathers. While the female workforce has experienced a general increase in skills, the male workforce has become more polarised – with more men working at the top and bottom of the skills ladder. "Job polarisation in Australia has mainly been a male phenomenon," the economists conclude.

The biggest "male losers", according to their analysis of changes in occupation by gender, have included metal fitters and machinists, factory hands, trades assistants, truck drivers and electrical engineers. The biggest "male gainers" have included computing professionals, sales assistants, cooks and kitchen hands. Secure, full-time jobs in traditional male occupations have been replaced by often part-time jobs in fields that previously would have been classified as "women's work". This loss of secure, full-time, traditional male jobs is fuelling an undercurrent of dissatisfaction among working class men that is being increasingly exploited by charismatic politicians. Make no mistake, the rise of the political parties led by Donald Trump and Pauline Hanson are part of a backlash against the advancement of women and minorities into the workforce and the overturning of traditional male breadwinner models.

If you assume that power and status are relative concepts – gains must be offset by losers – then the advancement of women and minorities in society is a direct challenge to the power of white men. Could this be the source of the new rage and anger that has infected politics globally and at home? Dr Michael Currie, a clinical psychologist, psychoanalyst and author of several books on anger, says anger is often a consequence of a person feeling they have been wronged. " 'Someone hurt me so I have to hurt them' is the cognitive component of anger, the action urge is to strike out," says Currie. "From a psychological point of view, some white working class men have felt hurt in one way or another by what are seen as the ruling class in Washington. Standing at the head of that are people like Obama and Clinton.

"It is not via rationality that they would want to vote for this brash, unqualified rogue [Donald Trump]. But, in a way, it feeds into their wish to strike out and hurt. It sort of makes sense to some people. People feel hurt by what's happened to them and therefore to vote for Trump or Hanson is possibly a way of striking out at that hurt." Currie says that it is fundamental in human nature to compare oneself to one's parents. "Of course the child always looks up to the father. It's a very old tendency in Western patriarchy and that's causing a crisis for men." Given changes in the workforce "if the recent economic data is borne out psychologically for a few generations some men are vulnerable to feeling condemned to being part of a race of failures. "Men aren't doing as well as their dads."

"On a psychological level, there is some truth to the angry while man phenomenon. Many feel like they can't do what they used to be able to." White man rage may not be rational. And it by no means afflicts all men. But for some, it is very real emotion, deeply rooted in real world causes. Traditional middle-income male jobs have been lost and are not coming back any time soon. The key must be to reform male stereotypes to put value on flexible work and work in the health and caring industries where all the jobs growth is. Changes in the workplace have been unfolding rapidly. Changes in social attitudes will take longer.