Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research - Research Publications

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The Impact of Paid Parental Leave on Labor Supply and Employment Outcomes in Australia

Broadway, B ; Kalb, G ; McVicar, D ; Martin, B (ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, 2020-07-02)

The introduction of the Australian Paid Parental Leave scheme in 2011 provides a rare opportunity to estimate the impacts of publicly funded paid leave on mothers in the first year postpartum. The almost universal coverage of the scheme, coupled with detailed survey data collected specifically for the scheme’s evaluation, means that eligibility for paid leave under the scheme can be plausibly taken as exogenous, following a standard propensity score-matching exercise. Consistent with much of the existing literature, the study finds a positive impact on mothers’ taking leave in the first half year and on mothers’ probability of returning to work in the first year. The paper provides new evidence of a positive impact on continuing in the same job under the same conditions, where previous conclusions have been mixed. Further, it shows that disadvantaged mothers – low income, less educated, without access to employer-funded leave – respond most.
Do gender and psychosocial job stressors modify the relationship between disability and sickness absence: An investigation using 12 waves of a longitudinal cohort.

Milner, A ; Aitken, Z ; Byars, S ; Butterworth, P ; Kavanagh, A (Nordic Association of Occupational Safety and Health, 2020-01-01)

Objectives A considerable proportion of the working population reports a disability. These workers may be at risk of adverse outcomes, including longer periods of sickness absence. This study examined the causal effect of disability on sickness absence and the role of psychosocial job stressors and gender as effect modifiers. Methods Data on paid and unpaid sick leave, disability (yes/no) and psychosocial job stressors were available from 2005 to 2017 from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey. Negative binomial models were used to model the rate of sickness absence in a year. Results In the random effects model, workers with disability had 1.20 greater rate of sickness absence in a year [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.17-1.23, P<0.001] after adjustment for confounders. The rate was slightly lower in the fixed effects model. There was evidence of multiplicative interaction of the effect by gender and job control. The effect of disability on sickness absence was greater among men than women, and higher for people with low job control compared to those with high job control. Conclusions There is a need for more research about the factors that can reduce sickness leave among workers with disabilities.
Mental Health Problems and Internet Access: Results From an Australian National Household Survey

Too, LS ; Leach, L ; Butterworth, P (JMIR Publications, 2020-05-15)

Background: Mental health support and interventions are increasingly delivered on the web, and stepped care systems of mental health services are embracing the notion of a digital gateway through which individuals can have access to information, assessment, and services and can be connected with more intensive services if needed. Although concerns have been raised over whether people with mental health problems are disadvantaged in terms of their access to the internet, there is a lack of representative data on this topic. Objective: This study aimed to examine the relationship between mental health and internet access, particularly lack of access because of affordability issues. Methods: Data from wave 14 of the Household, Income, and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey were used (n=15,596) in the analyses. Sample weights available in the survey were used to calculate the proportion of those with or without internet access for those with and without mental health problems and more severe long-term mental health conditions. These proportions were also calculated for those with and without internet access due, specifically, to affordability issues. Multinomial logistic regression analyses assessed the relationship between mental health status and internet access/affordability issues, adjusting for a range of covariates. Results: Access to the internet was poorer for those with mental health problems (87.8%) than those without mental health problems (92.2%), and the difference was greater when a measure of more severe mental health conditions was used (81.3% vs 92.2%). The regression models showed that even after adjusting for a broad range of covariates, people with mental ill health were significantly more likely to have no internet access because of unaffordability than those without mental ill health (mental health problems: relative risk ratio [RRR] 1.68; 95% CI 1.11-2.53 and severe mental health conditions: RRR 1.92; 95% CI 1.16-3.19). Conclusions: As Australia and other nations increasingly deliver mental health services on the web, issues of equity and affordability need to be considered to ensure that those who most need support and assistance are not further disadvantaged.
Private School Usage in Australia 1975-2010: Evidence from the Household Expenditure Surveys

Gorgens, T ; Ryan, C ; Zhao, G (Wiley, 2020-06-01)

The use of private schools in Australia has increased greatly since the 1970s. This article shows that most of the growth has been concentrated in attendance at low‐fee schools, while the growth in using high‐fee schools has been modest. Furthermore, the increase has occurred for households at all income levels, for both single‐parent and two‐parent households, for households of all sizes, and irrespective of whether the household reference person is born in Australia or elsewhere. However, increasing income and changes in household composition can account only for a small part of the trend.
ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION ON IMMIGRATION

Ashenfelter, O ; McFadden, DL ; Payne, A ; Potts, J ; Gregory, R ; Martin, WE (Wiley, 2020-01-01)

This article is based upon presentations at the closing session of the 14th International Conference of the Western Economic Association International (WEAI), hosted by the Newcastle Business School, University of Newcastle, Australia, January 11–14, 2018. The panellists are: Orley Ashenfelter, Daniel L. McFadden, Abigail Payne, Jason Potts, Robert Gregory, and Wade Martin. (JEL J6).
Association between symptom duration and patient-reported outcomes before and after hip replacement surgery.

Lau, Y-S ; Harrison, M ; Sutton, M (Wiley, 2020-03-01)

BACKGROUND: Patients experience discomfort and compromised quality of life whilst waiting for hip replacement. Symptom duration may affect quality of life attained following surgery, but no population-level evidence exists on the impact of symptom duration on pre- and post-surgical outcomes. METHODS: National observational data collected before and after hip replacement surgery in England between 2009 and 2016 was used to investigate determinants of symptom duration prior to surgery, and the relationship between symptom duration and pre- and post-surgical patient-reported outcomes. Multivariable linear regression models were used to estimate associations between patient-reported outcomes and symptom duration, controlling for a range covariates. RESULTS: The sample included 209,192 patients; most (69%) experienced symptoms for 1-5 years. Few patients (14%) experienced symptoms for less than a year, for longer than 5 years (6-10 years (11%), or for more than 10 years (5%). Symptom duration decreased overall over the studied time period, and was shorter among males, older and less deprived patients. Patients with a symptom duration less than one year had better post-surgical pain and function (Oxford Hip Score: 0.875, 95% CI 0.777 to 0.973) than those with 1-5 years symptom duration in an adjusted model. Conversely, those with symptom duration exceeding five years had increasingly poorer post-surgical outcomes (Oxford Hip Score: 6-10 years -0.730, 95% CI -0.847 to -0.613; >10 years -1.112, 95% CI -1.278 to -0.946). CONCLUSION: Symptom duration prior to hip replacement has become more standardised in England over time but increasing duration remains a significant predictor of poorer outcome after surgery.
Are Professors Worth It? The Value-added and Costs of Tutorial Instructors

Salamanca Acosta, N ; Zölitz, U ; Feld, J (University of Wisconsin Press, 2020)

A substantial share of university instruction happens in tutorial sessions— small group instruction given parallel to lectures. In this paper, we study whether instructors with a higher academic rank teach tutorials more effectively in a setting where students are randomly assigned to tutorial groups. We find this to be largely not the case. Academic rank is unrelated to students’ current and future performance and only weakly positively related to students’ course evaluations. Building on these results, we discuss different staffing scenarios that show that universities can substantially reduce costs by increasingly relying on lower-ranked instructors for tutorial teaching.
Perspectives on Poverty in Europe. Following in Tony Atkinson’s Footsteps

Jenkins, SP (Springer Verlag, 2020-03-01)

I address four topics: how our capacities to monitor poverty in Europe have improved substantially over recent decades; how progress on EU poverty reduction has been disappointing and why this has been; conceptual and measurement issues; and the future direction of EU-level anti-poverty actions. I follow in the footsteps of a giant—my perspectives are essentially elaborations of points made by Tony Atkinson.
Association Between Preoperative Benzodiazepine Use and Postoperative Opioid Use and Health Care Costs

Rishel, CA ; Zhang, Y ; Sun, EC (JAMA Network, 2020-10-27)

Importance The association between preoperative benzodiazepine use and long-term postoperative outcomes is not well understood. Objective To characterize the association between preoperative benzodiazepine use and postoperative opioid use and health care costs. Design, Setting, and Participants In this cohort study, retrospective analysis of private health insurance claims data on 946 561 opioid-naive patients (no opioid prescriptions filled in the year before surgery) throughout the US was conducted. Patients underwent 1 of 11 common surgical procedures between January 1, 2004, and December 31, 2016; data analysis was performed January 9, 2020. Exposures Benzodiazepine use, defined as long term (≥10 prescriptions filled or ≥120 days supplied in the year before surgery) or intermittent (any use not meeting the criteria for long term). Main Outcomes and Measures The primary outcome was opioid use 91 to 365 days after surgery. Secondary outcomes included opioid use 0 to 90 days after surgery and health care costs 0 to 30 days after surgery. Results In this sample of 946 561 patients, the mean age was 59.8 years (range, 18-89 years); 615 065 were women (65.0%). Of these, 23 484 patients (2.5%) met the criteria for long-term preoperative benzodiazepine use and 47 669 patients (5.0%) met the criteria for intermittent use. After adjusting for confounders, long-term (odds ratio [OR], 1.59; 95% CI, 1.54-1.65; P < .001) and intermittent (OR, 1.47; 95% CI, 1.44-1.51; P < .001) benzodiazepine use were associated with an increased probability of any opioid use during postoperative days 91 to 365. For patients who used opioids in postoperative days 91 to 365, long-term benzodiazepine use was associated with a 44% increase in opioid dose (additional 0.6 mean daily morphine milligram equivalents [MMEs]; 95% CI, 0.3-0.8 MMEs; P < .001), although intermittent benzodiazepine use was not significantly different (0.0 average daily MMEs; 95% CI, −0.2 to 0.2 MMEs; P = .65). Preoperative benzodiazepine use was also associated with increased opioid use in postoperative days 0 to 90 for both long-term (32% increase, additional 1.9 average daily MMEs; 95% CI, 1.6-2.1 MMEs; P < .001) and intermittent (9% increase, additional 0.5 average daily MMEs; 95% CI, 0.4-0.6 MMEs; P < .001) users. Intermittent benzodiazepine use was associated with an increase in 30-day health care costs ($1155; 95% CI, $938-$1372; P < .001), while no significant difference was observed for long-term benzodiazepine use. Conclusions and Relevance The findings of this study suggest that, among opioid-naive patients, preoperative benzodiazepine use may be associated with an increased risk of developing long-term opioid use and increased opioid dosages postoperatively, and also may be associated with increased health care costs.
Zero Hours Contracts and Their Growth

Farina, E ; Green, C ; McVicar, D (Wiley, 2020-09-01)

This article studies the prevalence and nature of zero hours contracts (ZHCs) in the UK labour market. It is widely argued that the headline count of ZHC workers based on the Labour Force Survey historically underestimated the number of workers in ZHC jobs. Here, we argue that this likely continues to be the case, particularly if one considers other, similar, no-guaranteed-hours jobs alongside ZHCs. ZHC jobs and workers are heterogeneous, but ZHCs have become increasingly concentrated among young workers, full-time students, migrants, black and minority ethnic workers, in personal service and elementary occupations, and in the distribution, accommodation and restaurant sector over time. Compared to other forms of employment, median wages in ZHC jobs have also fallen. The most common prior labour market state for ZHC workers is non-ZHC employment, particularly part-time employment, with part of the reported growth in ZHCs driven by reclassification of existing employment relationships. Finally, we show that growth in public awareness of ZHCs contributed substantially to recent growth in reported ZHCs, particularly over the period 2013/14.