Understanding the structure of internal migration in Australia. This project will analyse patterns and processes of interregional migration in Australia from 1976-2001 and forecast their future trajectory. It will use a unique database to focus on the spatial structure and demographic dimensions of migration, evaluate a new source of migration statistics, develop and test a suite of migration indicators, examine how cohort size and age composition influence migration, and develop new methods of ....Understanding the structure of internal migration in Australia. This project will analyse patterns and processes of interregional migration in Australia from 1976-2001 and forecast their future trajectory. It will use a unique database to focus on the spatial structure and demographic dimensions of migration, evaluate a new source of migration statistics, develop and test a suite of migration indicators, examine how cohort size and age composition influence migration, and develop new methods of setting internal migration scenarios in sub-national population forecasts. The results will aid understanding of migration dynamics in Australia and internationally, and significantly enhance the knowledge base for spatial planning and policy formulation.Read moreRead less
Family Formation and Fertility Decline in Nineteenth-Century Tasmania. The fertility decline which began across the industrialised world in the late nineteenth century greatly impacted the demographic, economic and social milieux of the twentieth century and beyond. Using family reconstitution techniques and a wide range of data, this project will explore the mechanisms by which fertility decline was achieved in nineteenth-century Tasmania and the broader societal influences that brought these m ....Family Formation and Fertility Decline in Nineteenth-Century Tasmania. The fertility decline which began across the industrialised world in the late nineteenth century greatly impacted the demographic, economic and social milieux of the twentieth century and beyond. Using family reconstitution techniques and a wide range of data, this project will explore the mechanisms by which fertility decline was achieved in nineteenth-century Tasmania and the broader societal influences that brought these mechanisms into play. The results will advance our understanding of Australia's evolution over the nineteenth century and into the twentieth century. The research will result in three journal articles, a single-authored monograph and wide public dissemination.Read moreRead less
Hidden relationships: living apart together in Australia. Australians who are in a relationship but do not live together pose a challenge to social surveys and scholarship, which qualify people as cohabiting, married or single. The project study how many Australians 'live apart together', and why, to produce a better understanding of the complex and dynamic factors behind modern Australian relationships.
Childbearing within cohabiting unions in Australia: trends, explanations and comparison. This project will explore the trends and determinants of childbearing within cohabitation in Australia. The project will contribute to our understanding of modern family dynamics and change. By comparison with other countries we will learn more about the policy settings that assist and support couples to realise their family formation plans.
The time of our lives: Time equity and the balancing of market and non-market production in the modern Australian population. This project will yield new information relevant to the national social inclusion agenda and the research priority goal of understanding and strengthening Australia's social and economic fabric to help families and individuals live healthy, productive, fulfilling lives. Through a multilayered analysis of gender, class, life course stage, time allocation and the connection ....The time of our lives: Time equity and the balancing of market and non-market production in the modern Australian population. This project will yield new information relevant to the national social inclusion agenda and the research priority goal of understanding and strengthening Australia's social and economic fabric to help families and individuals live healthy, productive, fulfilling lives. Through a multilayered analysis of gender, class, life course stage, time allocation and the connections between them, it will demonstrate links between various forms of social and economic participation and identify how they could be distributed more evenly. This knowledge is important to inform policy to better enable young people to become independent, families to both earn a living and care well for their children, and older people to be productive and socially engaged.Read moreRead less
If men did more housework, would women have more babies? Cross-national fertility rates and the gender division of labour. This project could contribute to the future well being of Australian society and its citizens by addressing the increasingly pressing social issue of fertility decline, and its consequence, population aging. The Treasury Intergenerational Report 2002-3 has identified structural aging of the population as a major social challenge because it threatens labour supply, social sta ....If men did more housework, would women have more babies? Cross-national fertility rates and the gender division of labour. This project could contribute to the future well being of Australian society and its citizens by addressing the increasingly pressing social issue of fertility decline, and its consequence, population aging. The Treasury Intergenerational Report 2002-3 has identified structural aging of the population as a major social challenge because it threatens labour supply, social stability and economic growth. The taxes of a shrinking work force may have to support a mounting number of dependent elderly. The proposed research could identify practical social interventions to facilitate higher birth rates, which would slow population aging by increasing the ratio of young people to elderly. Read moreRead less
Assessing and enhancing the quality of longitudinal survey data. Australia has begun investing heavily in the collection of population-wide longitudinal survey data. Most of that effort has focused first on collection and dissemination and second on analysis, with scant attention paid to the quality of data collected. This is unfortunate given that longitudinal surveys exhibit many problems (e.g., attrition, panel conditioning, and seam effects) that are not relevant in more ubiquitous cross-sec ....Assessing and enhancing the quality of longitudinal survey data. Australia has begun investing heavily in the collection of population-wide longitudinal survey data. Most of that effort has focused first on collection and dissemination and second on analysis, with scant attention paid to the quality of data collected. This is unfortunate given that longitudinal surveys exhibit many problems (e.g., attrition, panel conditioning, and seam effects) that are not relevant in more ubiquitous cross-section of surveys. Without adequate resources devoted to these methodological issues, the quality of substantive research will be questioned and interest from potential users decline. Maximizing the investment being made in longitudinal data thus requires a complementary investment in methodological research.Read moreRead less
Migration, Mixed Marriage and Integration in Australia. This project aims to investigate the prevalence, experience and variations of ethnic and religious mixed marriage in Australia, which will guide policies that facilitate social integration and cohesion. The implications of a lack of integration have been demonstrated by recent events in Europe and US, which reflect strong anti-immigration tendencies. This project expects to generate new sociological knowledge of ethnic/religious mixed-marri ....Migration, Mixed Marriage and Integration in Australia. This project aims to investigate the prevalence, experience and variations of ethnic and religious mixed marriage in Australia, which will guide policies that facilitate social integration and cohesion. The implications of a lack of integration have been demonstrated by recent events in Europe and US, which reflect strong anti-immigration tendencies. This project expects to generate new sociological knowledge of ethnic/religious mixed-marriage, new understanding in social integration and enhanced research capacity in the area of migration and integration. This research should provide significant benefits, such as enhanced cultural understanding and appropriate policies that foster social integration of cultural groups.Read moreRead less
Transition to adulthood in greater Jakarta: A longitudinal perspective. Interviewing 3,000 young adult Indonesians at two points in time, this project examines whether their economic and social outcomes change across time or whether early experience determines longer-term outcomes. What are the factors involved in transition to adulthood among young people in a rapidly developing metropolis of a developing country?
Founders and survivors: Australian lifecourses in historical context. This project will create one of the world's outstanding longitudinal studies of human health and resilience. It will contribute to the historical understanding of European migration, settler colonialism, forced labour and human health under stress, long-run family formation and falling fertility, household economy, and the social determinants of health. It will contribute to debate both nationally and internationally on the lo ....Founders and survivors: Australian lifecourses in historical context. This project will create one of the world's outstanding longitudinal studies of human health and resilience. It will contribute to the historical understanding of European migration, settler colonialism, forced labour and human health under stress, long-run family formation and falling fertility, household economy, and the social determinants of health. It will contribute to debate both nationally and internationally on the long-run effects of social and biomedical interventions and of investment in human capital. It will tell the grassroots history of the Australian penal and colonial experiments and it will form a scholarly coalition with the great community of family historians. Read moreRead less