There is evidence that working non-standard hours can impact on health and developmental outcomes for the workers themselves and their families. In Western Australia it is relatively common for men to work away from home for extended... more
There is evidence that working non-standard hours can impact on health and developmental outcomes for the workers themselves and their families. In Western Australia it is relatively common for men to work away from home for extended periods of time in the mining industry. These fly-in fly-out (FIFO) workers are thought to be especially vulnerable to psychological disturbances and relationship problems that affect themselves and their families. This study uses data from a longitudinal pregnancy cohort study to examine mental health and relationship adjustment in FIFO and non-FIFO men and their partners during pregnancy. It is of interest to know if FIFO men or their partners tend to report higher rates of: mental health difficulties (stress, anxiety or depression); couple or family relationship difficulties; and job dissatisfaction.
The Peel Child Health Study (www.peelchildhealthstudy.com.au) recruited 450 women at 18-weeks in pregnancy and follow-ups were completed at 26 weeks and 34 weeks of pregnancy and at the birth of the child. A total of 289 couples completed questionnaires administered at the time of recruitment, which included 70 men that identified as working away from home (FIFO) as part of their job.
Pregnancy is a time of heightened risk of social and emotional health difficulties for men and women, however this period of vulnerability has received little attention in FIFO literature. This study seeks to inform industry and workforce policy makers of the potential risks and challenges of the FIFO lifestyle. It is anticipated that the results will inform employers as well as those who provide support services and build a better understanding of potential strengths or vulnerabilities for FIFO families.
The Peel Child Health Study (www.peelchildhealthstudy.com.au) recruited 450 women at 18-weeks in pregnancy and follow-ups were completed at 26 weeks and 34 weeks of pregnancy and at the birth of the child. A total of 289 couples completed questionnaires administered at the time of recruitment, which included 70 men that identified as working away from home (FIFO) as part of their job.
Pregnancy is a time of heightened risk of social and emotional health difficulties for men and women, however this period of vulnerability has received little attention in FIFO literature. This study seeks to inform industry and workforce policy makers of the potential risks and challenges of the FIFO lifestyle. It is anticipated that the results will inform employers as well as those who provide support services and build a better understanding of potential strengths or vulnerabilities for FIFO families.
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Research Interests: Sociology and Indigenous
This paper focusses on how careers advice provided to Australian secondary school students varies according to students’ socio-economic background. National data for students in Years 11 and 12 from five cohorts of the Longitudinal... more
This paper focusses on how careers advice provided to Australian secondary school students varies according to students’ socio-economic background. National data for students in Years 11 and 12 from five cohorts of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth initiated between 1998 and 2015 are analysed. Students from higher socio-economic backgrounds are found to be more likely to access multiple forms of careers information, particularly information relating to university entrance, compared to students from low-SES backgrounds. Conversely, students from lower socio-economic backgrounds are more likely to receive information on pathways to non-professional vocations. This socioeconomic divide has become more pronounced over time. Importantly, access to nonprofessional careers information appears to have declined over time, while there is evidence to suggest this form of advice is more highly valued by students of low-socioeconomic background relative to those of high-socioeconomic ...
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Whether or not working from home or ‘telecommuting’ helps workers to balance work and family commitments, as opposed to providing an avenue for work to intrude on family life remains a contentious issue. On balance it seems the... more
Whether or not working from home or ‘telecommuting’ helps workers to balance work and family commitments, as opposed to providing an avenue for work to intrude on family life remains a contentious issue. On balance it seems the flexibility to work some hours from home is a positive for workers. This was confirmed for a representative sample of Australian employees drawn from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey (HILDA) from 2001 to 2011, but with the reservation that working from home was associated with longer working hours and hence had the potential to exacerbate work-to-family conflict. A limitation of that study and much of the existing literature is that measures of work-family conflict have been based on subjective assessments by the workers themselves, who may be unlikely to reflect negatively on their own choice of work arrangements. In contrast, this study analyses the effect of employees working from home on their spouses’ and children’s assessments of family functioning in Australia using HILDA data from 2001-2013. Some evidence is found that working from home contributes to better relationships and a more equitable division of household responsibilities for couples with children.Limited evidence of negative externalities on other family members is observed, namely women whose employee-partners work a substantial number of hours from home are less satisfied with the division of tasks within the home. The findings therefore contribute to the weight of evidence that working from home is conducive to families achieving a better work-life balance.
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ABSTRACT This paper examines factors affecting parental expectations of higher education prospects for their children using Australian household survey data. We find that a variety of factors influence parental expectations, of which... more
ABSTRACT This paper examines factors affecting parental expectations of higher education prospects for their children using Australian household survey data. We find that a variety of factors influence parental expectations, of which parents’ assessment of their children’s academic performance is the strongest. Factors known to impact upon actual higher education participation, such as parental education and remoteness, are already evident in parental expectations, but with limited evidence of expectations being shaped by financial constraints. We also find evidence of a ‘same gender’ effect, with mothers exhibiting higher expectations for higher education for their daughters. This may be in part due to significantly lower expectations held by fathers with sub-bachelor qualifications. These factors contribute to higher expectations overall for girls entering university. The research points to the importance of interventions commencing in early childhood, and accounting for key household background characteristics when designing, implementing and evaluating programmes for widening participation in higher education.
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Research Interests: Economics, Employment, Labour Market, Comparative Analysis, Income, and 3 moreOn, Http, and Educational Level
Abstract: This paper utilises the administrative records of a state housing authority to explore welfare locks, the work incentive effects of income related rents and welfare dependence in relation to public housing. We find that welfare... more
Abstract: This paper utilises the administrative records of a state housing authority to explore welfare locks, the work incentive effects of income related rents and welfare dependence in relation to public housing. We find that welfare locks while prospective tenants are on wait turn lists are large, and this is particularly evident among males where employment rates are impacted by as much as 12 percentage points. On the other hand, we cannot detect significant effects from income related rents on employment status. Finally, we find that spells in public housing are typically longer for priority cases and those receiving high levels of housing assistance, but shorter for employed tenants with relatively high earnings. Once a tenant has been resident for between 18 and 20 months, duration dependence sets in; this means that departure form public housing becomes progressively less likely and once residence reaches between 6 and 7 years, there is virtually no likelihood of departure.
There are ongoing debates about the livelihoods of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians living in remote communities, and the role for policy in addressing socioeconomic equity and the economic viability of those communities.... more
There are ongoing debates about the livelihoods of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians living in remote communities, and the role for policy in addressing socioeconomic equity and the economic viability of those communities. The characteristics and dynamics of remote labour markets are important parameters in many of these debates. However, remote economic development discourses are often conducted with limited access to empirical evidence of the actual functioning of labour markets in remote communities – evidence that is likely to have important implications for the efficacy of policy alternatives. Unique survey data collected from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders living in 21 remote communities in central Australia for the Cooperative Research Centre for Remote Economic Participation’s Population Mobility and Labour Markets project are used to examine these labour markets, with a focus on the role of education and training. Examining access to education, emplo...
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This paper presents a simple theoretical model of the Australian Traineeship System and goes on to evaluate the early career outcomes of young persons who take up a traineeship shortly after leaving school. The trainees are compared to... more
This paper presents a simple theoretical model of the Australian Traineeship System and goes on to evaluate the early career outcomes of young persons who take up a traineeship shortly after leaving school. The trainees are compared to other school leavers who do not undertake any further education or training after leaving school. Using eight indicators of outcomes, it is found that doing a traineeship does not lead to a marked improvement in outcomes although trainees have a stronger commitment to their chosen career and express greater satisfaction with their jobs than young persons who go straight to work.
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This paper investigates factors that influence Australians' self-reported levels of happiness and life satisfaction with an emphasis on the role of labour market experience. The analysis is based on data from two surveys. The first,... more
This paper investigates factors that influence Australians' self-reported levels of happiness and life satisfaction with an emphasis on the role of labour market experience. The analysis is based on data from two surveys. The first, the 1995 Year 9 cohort of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY), tracks a sample of young Australians in each year from Year 9 secondary school to age 19. The second is Wave 1 of the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey (HILDA). Ordered probit models are fitted to individuals' ratings of how happy they are with their lives as a whole (LSAY) and their life satisfaction (HILDA). There is some evidence of declining levels of happiness with duration of unemployment. However, the results illustrate the importance the quality of working life, rather than just having a job, and some evidence on the influence of various job attributes on wellbeing is presented.
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From 2006 to 2009, Federal minimum wages in Australia were set by the Australian Fair Pay Commission. This paper uses data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia panel survey to investigate the circumstances of... more
From 2006 to 2009, Federal minimum wages in Australia were set by the Australian Fair Pay Commission. This paper uses data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia panel survey to investigate the circumstances of persons who are paid at or near the minimum wage, and thus potentially affected by the wage determinations. Net disposable incomes for actual and potential minimum wage workers are modelled in and out of work to investigate the implications of the wage determinations on work incentives. In addition, a range of measures of socioeconomic status and wellbeing are inspected. Comparisons are made with selected groups of non-employed persons and those with higher earnings to highlight the potential costs and benefits for affected individuals, and hence the potential trade-offs faced in setting minimum wages if we accept that increases in minimum wages reduce employment opportunities.
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What are the key issues and challenges relating to immigration in Australia? Where do immigrants come from, where do they settle, and what types of jobs do they do? How do migrants affect the wages? To what extent do we see skills... more
What are the key issues and challenges relating to immigration in Australia? Where do immigrants come from, where do they settle, and what types of jobs do they do? How do migrants affect the wages? To what extent do we see skills mismatch among migrants entering our workforce? Does discrimination and bias remain an issue in our society? Are we doing enough to support the forced immigrants to Australia? This seventh report in BCEC’s Focus on the States Series seeks to provide insights into these questions and many more. We explore the profile and evolution of immigration in Australia over recent years, and undertake a comprehensive assessment of the contributions immigrants make to Australia’s social and economic development. The report provides new evidence to better inform the debates on the labour market impact of immigrants and highlights the positive impact of immigrants on Australian economy. It also explores the extent of acceptance of multiculturalism in Australia and provid...
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This report provides an important contribution to our understanding of the relationship between public housing participation and employment outcomes in Australia. It has been made possible through the availability of a unique dataset. The... more
This report provides an important contribution to our understanding of the relationship between public housing participation and employment outcomes in Australia. It has been made possible through the availability of a unique dataset. The state Department of Housing and Works (DHW) manages public housing programs in Western Australia through their public housing agency. For the purpose of this project, DHW extracted a confidentialised data set from its administrative records of all people who entered the wait list for public housing from January 1999 onwards, including records on their subsequent public housing tenancies until November 2005. The wide array of socio-demographic and income variables in the data allows the construction of income and employment profiles from the date of first appearance on wait lists, through entry into public housing to the most current recorded income and employment situation.
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This paper begins by reviewing the existing international literature on the links between housing and child development. The housing environment can significantly improve or hinder a child’s physical, social, emotional, behavioural and... more
This paper begins by reviewing the existing international literature on the links between housing and child development. The housing environment can significantly improve or hinder a child’s physical, social, emotional, behavioural and cognitive development directly and via its impacts on the child’s parenting methods. The review of international literature is drawn from a range of disciplines including sociology, epidemiology, economics, housing policy, social welfare, health, medicine, child development and psychology. It highlights key dimensions of children’s housing circumstances that are associated with their health and development. These include housing tenure, neighbourhood conditions, housing affordability,
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In the twenty years 1982-2002 the employment participation rate of all working age persons has increased. Since 1982 there has been a particularly sharp increase in participation rates among working age residing in households that are... more
In the twenty years 1982-2002 the employment participation rate of all working age persons has increased. Since 1982 there has been a particularly sharp increase in participation rates among working age residing in households that are buying their home. On the other hand employment participation rates among female public housing tenants have remained low. Among males there are small declines in the employment participation rate of homeowners and private rental tenants, but a sharp decline among male public renters over the same time period.
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Research based on data from the 2002 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey found evidence of a positive link between Indigenous Australians’ attachment to their traditional culture and a range of mainstream... more
Research based on data from the 2002 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey found evidence of a positive link between Indigenous Australians’ attachment to their traditional culture and a range of mainstream socio-economic indicators, contrary to the common assumption that traditional culture is a barrier to achievement. This paper uses data from the 2008 NATSISS to further explore the concept of ‘cultural attachment,’ breaking it down into four constituent elements: participation in cultural events and activities, cultural identity, language and participation in traditional economic activities. The positive effects of cultural attachment on mainstream socio-economic indicators are confirmed, and now found to extend to subjective well-being. This is important as subjective measures of well-being are based on Indigenous peoples’ own values and preferences. Indigenous Australians who identify more strongly with their traditional culture are happier and display be...
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Indigenous persons continue to be among the most disadvantaged groups in Australian society on a range of socio-economic indicators. In seeking a framework to reconsider programs and policies aimed to improve labour market outcomes for... more
Indigenous persons continue to be among the most disadvantaged groups in Australian society on a range of socio-economic indicators. In seeking a framework to reconsider programs and policies aimed to improve labour market outcomes for indigenous Australians, this paper reviews the history of engagement between Australian Aborigines and European settlers in the context of international experiences of indigenous populations in the face of the expansion of Western industrial economies in the 1800s and 1900s. A generic model of Indigenous disadvantage in the labour market is proposed as a framework for assessing indigenous policy and for the evaluation of indigenous employment programs.
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When we think of a ‘good society’ – a society that is fair and just – one of the defining characteristics is likely to be that all individuals have equal opportunity to realise their potential, irrespective of the circumstances into which... more
When we think of a ‘good society’ – a society that is fair and just – one of the defining characteristics is likely to be that all individuals have equal opportunity to realise their potential, irrespective of the circumstances into which they are born. This is ingrained in the Australian ethos of ‘a fair go’. Access to education plays a critical role in determining whether or not individuals are given this opportunity. This fifth report in the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre’s Focus on the States series addresses an issue of central importance to Australia in maintaining economic growth, its sense of social justice and fairness and in creating as equal an opportunity as possible for all Australian children – education. There are many indicators that can be used to measure education access, participation and outcomes, but no one indicator can show the full picture. Through the new BCEC Educational Disadvantage Index, we pull together data from a wide range of sources, to deliver a ...
As data from multiple waves ofHILDA become available, Australian researchers will be able to study the unemployment spell in detail never before possible, hopefully leading to an improved understanding ofthe nature and impact... more
As data from multiple waves ofHILDA become available, Australian researchers will be able to study the unemployment spell in detail never before possible, hopefully leading to an improved understanding ofthe nature and impact ofunemployment. This paper makes an i,nitial contribution in analysing the experience ofunemployed Australians based on a range of variables available in the Wave 1 data, largely with a view to highlighting HILDA's potential for future research in this area. Aspects of unemployment investigated include the perceived barriers to employment, job search methods, financial circumstances, subjective measures of 'wellbeing' and the role of social support and 'social network capital' in shaping the unemployment experience. The initial findings show that the unemployed are clearly worse off than other Australians on a range of measures, however no pronounced deterioration in their circumstances with time in unemployment is observed.
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Disincentives to employment participation arising from the tax-benefit system have been a major concern for welfare reform. Data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey are used to generate and test the... more
Disincentives to employment participation arising from the tax-benefit system have been a major concern for welfare reform. Data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey are used to generate and test the robustness of three commonly used disincentive measures for non-working Australians: effective marginal tax rates, replacement rates and participation tax rates. The results of transition models suggest financial disincentives as measured in the current period have a large effect on employment outcomes one year later, and the replacement rate is the preferred measure for modelling disincentives facing the unemployed. While attracting most attention in the welfare-to-work debate, effective marginal tax rates are found to be an inappropriate measure of work disincentives facing the non-employed.
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Jianghong Li* and Sarah Johnson, Curtin Health Innovation Research, Centre for Population Health Research, Curtin University and Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, Centre for Child Health Research, The University of Western... more
Jianghong Li* and Sarah Johnson, Curtin Health Innovation Research, Centre for Population Health Research, Curtin University and Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, Centre for Child Health Research, The University of Western Australia Wen-Jui Han, Silver School of Social Work, New York University Sonia Andrews, Curtin Business School, Curtin University Garth Kendall, Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, Centre for Child Health Research, The University of Western Australia and School of Nursing and Midwifery, Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University Lyndall Strazdins, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, College of Medicine, Biology & Environment, The Australian National University Alfred Michael Dockery, Curtin Business School, Curtin University
The incidence of very long-term unemployment in Australia has risen by nearly 1 per cent per annum since the late 1970s. Despite concerted active LMPs since then, the level of very long term unemployed has risen to nearly 100 000 people.... more
The incidence of very long-term unemployment in Australia has risen by nearly 1 per cent per annum since the late 1970s. Despite concerted active LMPs since then, the level of very long term unemployed has risen to nearly 100 000 people. The majority of these people have been workless for a large portion of their working lives. There is broad consensus that the net impact effects of LMPs for the work deprived are either small or very small. Deficiencies in past and ongoing evaluation efforts, including the lack of rigorous research designs has hampered our understanding of how these LMPs work. Given the current state of our knowledge, serious consideration should be given to providing assistance more closely targeted towards the specific needs of the unemployed person and permanent job creation programs.
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Australians who own their own home display favourable outcomes on a range of socioeconomic indicators when compared to renters, and substantial benefits of home-ownership also appear to accrue to their children. Whether such effects are... more
Australians who own their own home display favourable outcomes on a range of socioeconomic indicators when compared to renters, and substantial benefits of home-ownership also appear to accrue to their children. Whether such effects are causal or simply reflect pre-existing characteristics associated with selection into home-ownership has important implications for decisions to be made by individuals and families, and for policy in light of recent declines in home-ownership rates for younger adults. The literature primarily attributes the better outcomes of those in home-ownership to greater residential stability, particularly in the case of children’s educational attainment, and a greater incentive to invest in the local community, but there is little empirical evidence on the sources of benefits from home-ownership in Australia. Using longitudinal data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey (HILDA) this paper employs a range of strategies to test compet...
This paper compares mutually exclusive labour market states to determine whether discouraged jobseekers are more akin to the unemployed or others not in labour force. Data from four waves of the longitudinal Household, Income and Labour... more
This paper compares mutually exclusive labour market states to determine whether discouraged jobseekers are more akin to the unemployed or others not in labour force. Data from four waves of the longitudinal Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey are used to determine similarities in the behavioural characteristics and transition dynamics of the labour force states, with a focus on comparing discouraged jobseekers with the other non-employed states. Evidence from a range of indicators, including measures of financial circumstances, subjective wellbeing and reservation wages, rejects the notion that discouraged jobseekers represent a group of ‘hardcore unemployed’ who are, on average, experiencing greater hardship from their state of joblessness than the conventionally defined unemployed. Analysis of transitions between labour force states also reveals that discouraged jobseekers are behaviourally similar to others classified as not in the labour force rather than ...
Current and emerging skills shortages within the Australian rail transport industry (ARTI) are increasingly being reported. Like many other industries, the rail sector is also having to contend with an aging workforce and further labour... more
Current and emerging skills shortages within the Australian rail transport industry (ARTI) are increasingly being reported. Like many other industries, the rail sector is also having to contend with an aging workforce and further labour shortages that are likely to result from the imminent retirement of senior staff and older workers. The ARTI’s heavy reliance on the skills of its personnel therefore means that such labour issues are likely to have important implications for the industry’s prospective output capacity. The development of accurate forecasting models to predict likely future trends relating to labour resources within the ARTI would therefore greatly assist the sector to anticipate its future skills needs. This paper hopes to contribute to this endeavour by presenting forecasts of future labour supply and demand within the ARTI, disaggregated by occupation. The projections are derived through a production function model which differentiates between the main occupational...
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Labour market trends and the economic impacts of COVID-19 are elevating the importance of knowledge as a factor of production whilst concurrently eroding traditional forms of employment. Mindful of the implications for higher education,... more
Labour market trends and the economic impacts of COVID-19 are elevating the importance of knowledge as a factor of production whilst concurrently eroding traditional forms of employment. Mindful of the implications for higher education, this study approached employability development as ‘the ability to find, create and sustain meaningful work across the career lifespan’. The study was grounded in social cognitive theory and adopted a metacognitive approach to employability. Data were generated through an online self-assessment completed by 12,576 students enrolled with Australian universities. Data from science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) students were compared with those from students in non-STEM fields. STEM students differed in several key employability traits. The paper highlights the need to promote more nuanced occupational literacy about the future of work alongside awareness that STEM skills and capabilities are valued across multiple sectors and roles. Opportunities and challenges for embedding a pedagogy for employability are discussed.
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A new method is proposed for generating projections for sparse populations by locality, age cohort and gender. An adaptation of the cohort replacement method, the approach uses a Tobit model with varying censoring limits to model... more
A new method is proposed for generating projections for sparse populations by locality, age cohort and gender. An adaptation of the cohort replacement method, the approach uses a Tobit model with varying censoring limits to model population changes by cohort. As an applied example, projections are generated for 2016 Indigenous populations in communities in regional and remote Australia, and then compared to actual 2016 Census population counts. We argue the approach has considerable potential, with the model performing well in out-of-sample projection while offering projections at a much finer-grained level of disaggregation than currently available to planners and policy-makers.
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This study investigated why university students choose to major in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine/health (STEM(M)) disciplines, and how their study and career-related confidence compares with that of their... more
This study investigated why university students choose to major in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine/health (STEM(M)) disciplines, and how their study and career-related confidence compares with that of their peers. The study engaged 12,576 students enrolled at Australian universities. The findings suggest that STEM(M) students' career decision making is guided by their interest in the subject and their intentions to help people. Within the STEM(M) cohort, students in medicine and health were more confident in their career decision making than either their STEM or non-STEM(M) peers. Of interest, they were less aware of alternative career pathways and less prepared to reorient their careers should this be necessary. Female students reported greater confidence than male students in their career decision making, career identity, and career commitment. Implications include the need for career narratives beyond the STEM industries and for career development initiatives that are mindful of disciplinary and gendered differences.