School of Social and Political Sciences - Research Publications
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ItemA matter of time? Institutional timescapes and gendered inequalities in the transition from education to employment in Australia(SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD, 2024-03)This article explores why women miss out in the transition from the educational system to the labour market. Using nationally representative longitudinal data (2001–18) from the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey, we compare how long after graduation it takes men and women with tertiary qualifications (n = 2030) to achieve key labour market milestones: (1) getting a full-time job; (2) getting a permanent contract; (3) earning an average wage; (4) finding a job that matches their skill level. We find significant gender differences in reaching these milestones, confirming that time is a critical dimension for understanding gendered inequalities in the returns to education. We attribute findings to incompatible ‘timescapes’ across the institutions of education, family and employment. The more flexible timescape of education allows women to succeed, but the inflexible timescape of employment (particularly when combined with family responsibilities) impedes them from turning educational achievement into labour market progress.
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ItemUnpaid Work and Care During COVID-19: Subjective Experiences of Same-Sex Couples and Single Mothers in Australia(SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC, 2021-04)This paper draws on data from Work and Care During COVID-19, an online survey of Australians during pandemic lockdown in May 2020 (n = 2,722). It focuses on how subsamples of lesbian, gay, and bisexual mothers and fathers in couples (n = 280) and single mothers (n = 480) subjectively experienced unpaid work and care during lockdown compared with heterosexual mothers and fathers in couples, and with partnered mothers, respectively. During the pandemic, nonheterosexual fathers’ subjective reports were less negative than those of their heterosexual counterparts, but differences between heterosexual and lesbian/bisexual mothers were more mixed. Unlike their partnered counterparts, more single mothers reported feeling satisfied than before with their balance of paid and unpaid work and how they spent their time overall during the pandemic, perhaps because they avoided partnership conflicts and particularly benefited from relaxed commuting and child care deadlines.
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ItemWorking and Caring at Home: Gender Differences in the Effects of Covid-19 on Paid and Unpaid Labor in Australia(Informa UK Limited, 2020)The COVID-19 pandemic caused working from home to spike abruptly. This had implications for those with caring responsibilities, particularly women, who shoulder most unpaid domestic work. But what about men? This paper reports early results from a survey of Australian men and women, conducted during state-imposed lockdown in May 2020 (N=2772). Respondents were asked their average daily time in housework, household management, and care (active and supervisory), and about time pressure, spare time and satisfaction with balance of paid and unpaid labor, before and during the pandemic. Unpaid work rose significantly. Women still did most, but men’s childcare time increased more in relative terms, so average gender gaps narrowed. The relative gap in housework remained. For many, the lockdown generated lower subjective time pressure, but dissatisfaction with balance of paid and unpaid work rose markedly, and from a much higher base for women. Gender gaps in this measure remained wide.
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ItemDual-earner parent couples' work and care during COVID-19(WILEY, 2021-01)COVID-19 and the associated lockdowns meant many working parents were faced with doing paid work and family care at home simultaneously. To investigate how they managed, this article draws a subsample of parents in dual-earner couples (n = 1536) from a national survey of 2722 Australian men and women conducted during lockdown in May 2020. It asked how much time respondents spent in paid and unpaid labour, including both active and supervisory care, and about their satisfaction with work-family balance and how their partner shared the load. Overall, paid work time was slightly lower and unpaid work time was very much higher during lockdown than before it. These time changes were most for mothers, but gender gaps somewhat narrowed because the relative increase in childcare was higher for fathers. More mothers than fathers were dissatisfied with their work-family balance and partner's share before COVID-19. For some the pandemic improved satisfaction levels, but for most they became worse. Again, some gender differences narrowed, mainly because more fathers also felt negatively during lockdown than they had before.
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ItemCross-spousal influences on mature-aged Australians' transitions in and out of employment 2001-2017(SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC, 2020-09-25)This article uses data from the longitudinal Household, Income, and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey to examine cross-spousal influences on workforce transitions by men (n = 4667) and women (n = 5051) aged 50–69. We assess how gender patterns in employment (full- and part-time work) and non-employment activity (unemployment, non-employment and homemaking) changed among this age group over the period 2001–2017, which included the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2008. Notwithstanding that more men than women were in full-time work, and more women than men were employed part time or were homemakers, over the period there was an overall rise in employment for both genders, which following the GFC continued most strongly for women. Random effects logistic regression on partnered men and women showed that prior to the GFC one spouse transitioning out of the labour market was associated with significantly higher odds of the other spouse also doing so. This implies coordination, for example spouses retiring together. In contrast, following the GFC, one spouse leaving paid employment was associated with higher odds of the other taking up work or increasing their hours, suggesting that the economic slowdown encouraged an added worker effect in those households, with one spouse compensating for the job loss of the other. The finding was apparent for both men and women.
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ItemYoung people's daily activity in a globalized world: a cross-national comparison using time use data(Routledge Journals, Taylor and Francis, 2020)How much do young people’s daily activities differ according to where they live? As a global generation, young people are disproportionally subject to the risks and insecurity of globalization. However, countries differ in their support for young people’s inclusion through economic and social participation. Using time use surveys from Australia, Italy, Finland, France, Korea, Spain, the UK and the USA (n=23,271), this paper investigates national differences in the amount of time young people (20-34 years) spend on paid and unpaid work, study and leisure in each country. Gender gaps in market work and non-market work were widest in the Anglo and southern European countries. In France and Finland, gender differences in daily market and non-market activity were narrower. Young women spent more daily time in study than young men in all countries except Korea, where study time was highest. Young men and young women in social democratic Finland had more leisure time than young people elsewhere. Results suggest that young people’s experience of the consequences of globalization is not universal, but that nation-states remain relevant in determining their welfare.