Suchergebnisse

AbstractOver its 21 years, the HILDA Survey has assembled an unrivalled array of data on the economic wellbeing of the Australian population. This review summarises the main themes of the published research using this data.

AbstractThis article surveys the Australian data sources suited to the study of income inequality. Strengths and weaknesses of the data sources are discussed and a brief overview of inequality trends is presented. While there are several suitable data sources, each source has limitations for the purposes of ascertaining both the level of inequality at a point in time and trends in inequality over time. Drawing together the collective findings of the alternative data sources in part addresses the limitations of individual data sources, but there nonetheless remain significant sources of uncertainty about inequality levels and trends in Australia.

The extent of income poverty and its socio‐demographic composition are examined using all ABS income surveys conducted over the period 1982 to 2004. There has been some increase in the proportion of the population in poverty, particularly since 1997, but of more note are the substantial changes in the socio‐demographic composition of those in poverty. Compared with the start of the sample period, persons in poverty at the end of the period were much more likely to be older, in families without dependent children, holding post‐school qualifications and/or foreign‐born. In part, these changes reflect broader changes in the composition of the population. However, changes in the risks of poverty associated with different characteristics have also produced large changes in the composition of the poor, and have in some cases counteracted or reversed effects of demographic change. Specifically, the risk of poverty has increased for the elderly, non‐dependent youth, single people, foreign‐born persons and those without post‐school qualifications, and it has decreased for sole parent families and residents of Queensland, the ACT and the Northern Territory.

AbstractUsing the Australian Bureau of Statistics 1998 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers, this study examines the effects of disability on four labour market outcomes: not in the labour force, unemployed, part‐time employed and full‐time employed. The detailed information on health available in the dataset also facilitates investigation of the dependence of effects on the characteristics of the disability, including severity, impairment type and age of onset. Disability is found to have substantial effects on labour force status, on average acting to decrease the probability of labour force participation by one‐quarter for males and one‐fifth for females. For males, the decrease in fulltime employment accounts for almost all of the decrease in labour force participation associated with disability; for females, disability has negative effects on both full‐time and part‐time employment. Analysis of disability characteristics shows that adverse effects on labour force status are increasing in the severity of the disability and are also worse for those with more than one type of impairment and for those who experience disability onset at older ages. There is evidence that the adverse effects of disability are lower for males who completed their education after the onset of the disability.

Is the current federal system in Australia still relevant? Have the historical forces which made federation a necessary step in Australia's journey toward nationhood largely disappeared? Australian federalism has united six disparate states into one nation and established national infrastructure to enhance our position domestically and internationally. The geographic tyranny of distance that divided the colonies has been overcome through improved transport, telecommunications and information technology. This article explores the historical basis of Australian federalism and asks whether federalism remains relevant for meeting the challenges facing Australia in the twenty‐first century.