This article analyses the effect of employees working from home on their partners' assessments of family functioning using Australian household panel data collected from 2001 to 2013 in 48 multivariate models. 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 is observed, notably where male employees work substantial hours from home. Overall the findings contribute to the weight of evidence that working from home is conducive to families achieving a better work‐life balance.

This paper examines the links between forced housing mobility and the mental wellbeing of Australians in an era of heightened risks in both labour and housing markets. Specifically, we examine how the links between forced housing mobility and mental wellbeing vary according states of employment and housing tenure insecurity. Using the 2001-2018 Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey, we implement hybrid models across four mental wellbeing dimensions and uncover three key findings.First, there is strong evidence that forced moves impair mental wellbeing. Second, the adverse wellbeing impacts of forced moves are greater for those experiencing employment insecurity than those in secure employment. Third, forced moves can depress the wellbeing of both owner purchasers and private renters, but the wellbeing penalty is greater in the case of the former. Overall, our analysis emphasises the importance of harnessing housing as a policy instrument for promoting wellbeing. Our findings also highlight the need for policies that mitigate against loss of home ownership and reforms that improve tenure security for renters.

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.

This study uses three wealth modules from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey to explore the gender wealth gap for single Australian households between 2002 and 2010. The findings indicate a significant gender wealth gap, which has increased over the 8 years explored. Most of the increase in the wealth gap was associated with a relatively rapid increase in the value of housing assets by single men over the study period. The findings of this study challenge a wider literature that tends to emphasise that men are more prepared to invest in 'risky' assets such as shares and that their higher wealth is due to these investment strategies. Instead, this study emphasises how, in the Australian context at least, it was higher growth rates in the value of housing assets owned by single men that improved their wealth position relative to single women over the last decade.JEL Codes: D31, R219

No abstract