This article considers the impact, in terms of life and death choices, of the economic exclusion of young people in Australia, where suicide is the leading cause of death by injury. In the two decades from 1980 there was a dramatic increase in suicide rates for young males. Research demonstrates a correlation between youth suicide and unemployment but the complex relationship between the two has not been fully investigated. This article explores the perceptions of young people, parents and service providers of the cultural context of suicide and how it comes to be constructed as an option for young people experiencing economic marginalisation.