The costs associated with bringing up children are of intense interest to families and policy makers - the former because they bear most of these costs, and the latter because costs influence a range of family policies. However, producing robust evidence on this topic has proved challenging, in part because there is no agreed method for estimating these costs and the different methods that have been used are each subject to weaknesses.
In the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children (LSIC - also known as Footprints in Time) parents' most commonly reported hope for their children was a good education (Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, 2009), meaning at least school completion to Year 12, the final year of high school (Department of Social Services [DSS], 2011). A smooth transition to school predicts school completion (Huffman et al., 2000), and social and emotional development, which together with cognition and general knowledge, language development and physical wellbeing, is an important factor in children's readiness to participate in school-based learning experiences (Dockett, Perry, and Kearney, 2010).
Infants and children are exposed to many experiences, both nurturing and stressful, that influence their mental health (Dogar, 2007). Early childhood mental health involves being able to experience, manage and express emotions; form close, satisfying relationships; and explore and discover the environment (KidsMatter, 2012). Most children learn to cope with adversity, express and regulate emotions, form close and secure relationships, and explore their environment with behaviours appropriate to their individual personality, ecological environment and developmental stage. As well as physical development, children develop socially and emotionally, that is they develop skills around managing relationships, their feelings and interactions with their broader environment. The majority of children, with support from the adults in their life, learn to express and manage emotions in healthy ways, nurture social relationships and successfully contend with life's challenges.
Research from many nations overseas has shown an increasing public acceptance over the past two to three decades of sexual minorities and the rights of same-sex couples. This article investigates how public support has changed in Australia over the last 10 years, with a comparison of 2005 and 2015 data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey. It analyses individuals' perceptions of whether or not gay/lesbian couples should have the same rights as heterosexual couples, and the extent to which factors such as gender, age, education, religiosity, ethno-migrant background, or area of residence are predictive of these attitudes. The findings show a high degree of support for equal rights, up from 40% in 2005 to 66% in 2015. These changes cannot be attributed to compositional changes in population characteristics, and may be the product of cultural or institutional changes at the macro level.
Abuse and neglect of children in the home marks the extreme end of a continuum of family conditions undermining child wellbeing. Taking this into account, the prevention of child maltreatment rightfully is focused on optimising the condition - across the entire population - that promote healthy family relationships and support child development. Here we outline how a population approach to evidence-based parenting support can contribute to the prevention of child maltreatment by reducing the family-related risk factors associated not only with abuse and neglect but also with a broader array of adverse childhood outcomes. We present evidence about the scale of child maltreatment, how the current siloed approaches miss opportunities to reach the necessary audiences, and how the challenges to achieving this can be overcome.
The first issue of Family Matters, or the Institute of Family Studies Newsletter, as it was then known, was published in a black and white, A4 format in September 1980, when Genghis Khan's 'Moscow' topped the charts and Robert Redford's 'Ordinary People' was playing at the drive-in. Just over 37 years later, we celebrate the 100th issue, 'Family Matters' last in print. We look back at its history and highlight some of our most notable stories.
Though social and emotional wellbeing is an important outcome for policy makers in health and education, it is not adequately reflected by mainstream mental health assessment tools - in particular for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families. This article aims to identify the early childhood factors associated with later social and emotional wellbeing when the child is ready to start school, and to develop a new indicator that could capture a more holistic view of wellbeing. It draws on data from the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children to look at selected individual and family factors during pregnancy and up to 2 years of age compared to childrenu0027s prosocial behaviour, mental health, connectedness, and other surrogate proxies for social and emotional wellbeing at school commencement. Though the authors were unable to create a single index of social and emotional wellbeing, the findings highlight the need to apply caution in applying Western biomedical health and wellbeing measures to Indigenous concepts and states.
Minority stress theory identifies the existence of a hostile social environment as an important factor limiting the life chances of non-heterosexual people, with discrimination against lesbian, gay and bisexual individuals having its roots in negative attitudes and perceptions. In this paper we examine the extent of, trends in and correlates of support for the rights of samesex couples in contemporary Australia. We use using longitudinal data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey spanning from 2005 to 2015. We find high and rapidly growing support of equal rights for same- and different-sex couples. Support for equal rights is greater amongst female, non-heterosexual, younger, higher-income, degreeeducated and non-religious individuals. Over time, all population groups express greater support, but subgroup differences have sometimes widened (e.g. by religiosity) and sometimes narrowed (e.g. by sexual identity). These findings have significant implications for pressing social issues, including ongoing public debates on marriage equality, and for trends in social disadvantage by sexual identity.
Delegates met on the final morning to identify areas where information is lacking and to highlight priority areas for future research. Five principal topics were discussed: veterinary usage, methodology, invertebrate populations, agricultural impact and integrated pest management.
