Mental health, job quality and workforce participation: evidence from population health research to address complex problems and conflicting policies. Mental disorders such as depression are a major cause of disability. Improving mental health can increase productivity and workforce participation. However, the psychosocial quality of work is a factor that overlays the relationship between work and health. Poor quality work (for example, unreasonable time pressure, insecurity) increases the risk ....Mental health, job quality and workforce participation: evidence from population health research to address complex problems and conflicting policies. Mental disorders such as depression are a major cause of disability. Improving mental health can increase productivity and workforce participation. However, the psychosocial quality of work is a factor that overlays the relationship between work and health. Poor quality work (for example, unreasonable time pressure, insecurity) increases the risk of poor mental health, absenteeism, and exit from the workforce. This project will analyse data following people over time to investigate the long-term health and employment consequences of poor psychosocial job quality, and consider the special case of mature age workers. It will identify those individuals at greatest risk, and factors that can buffer against the adverse effects of poor quality work.Read moreRead less
The importance of gender and socio-economic disadvantage for the mental health of people living with disabilities. The twenty per cent of Australians reporting a disability are more likely to live in disadvantaged circumstances such as inadequate housing, unemployment, and lower levels of education all of which may contribute to poor mental health. Yet there has not been research on the mental health of people with disabilities. This means that disability services and advocacy groups, which deal ....The importance of gender and socio-economic disadvantage for the mental health of people living with disabilities. The twenty per cent of Australians reporting a disability are more likely to live in disadvantaged circumstances such as inadequate housing, unemployment, and lower levels of education all of which may contribute to poor mental health. Yet there has not been research on the mental health of people with disabilities. This means that disability services and advocacy groups, which deal daily with the lived experiences of disadvantage and poor mental health in people with disabilities, do not have evidence to support policy and service sector reform. This project will provide this critical evidence as well as build research capacity in disability-related research and lead to better monitoring of disability-related health inequities.Read moreRead less
New directions in health inequalities research: understanding the intersection between housing, employment and health in Australia. People employed on a casual basis in Australia are nearly three times more likely to live in a household that is in housing affordability stress than their permanently employed counterparts. Employment and housing are both determinants of health. While social inclusion, employment and housing affordability are critical components of the government's current social p ....New directions in health inequalities research: understanding the intersection between housing, employment and health in Australia. People employed on a casual basis in Australia are nearly three times more likely to live in a household that is in housing affordability stress than their permanently employed counterparts. Employment and housing are both determinants of health. While social inclusion, employment and housing affordability are critical components of the government's current social policy agenda, articulation between these policy domains is limited and little researched. This important study will provide robust evidence on the ways that housing and employment interact to both cause and prevent health inequities. This will directly benefit agencies delivering services to vulnerable people and contribute to an evidence base of benefit to policy makers.Read moreRead less
Time scarcity in Australian families: another inequity? The globalising economy, financial uncertainties and major democratic changes are all affecting family time. Parent's time is a resource on which children depend, but time scarcity has become a widespread problem for families. Our study helps focus policy attention on this problem. We deliver new methods to assess the experience of time scarcity in families, identifying those who are most likely to experience it, where they live, and how ti ....Time scarcity in Australian families: another inequity? The globalising economy, financial uncertainties and major democratic changes are all affecting family time. Parent's time is a resource on which children depend, but time scarcity has become a widespread problem for families. Our study helps focus policy attention on this problem. We deliver new methods to assess the experience of time scarcity in families, identifying those who are most likely to experience it, where they live, and how time scarcity affects them. This evidence can help support policy approaches to time, benefiting the twin economic and social policy goals of encouraging workforce participation while supporting the health and wellbeing of families.Read moreRead less