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How do family arrangements affect subjective well-being? We investigate this issue using data pooled from the IsssA and HILDA, both large, representative national samples of Australia (pooled n = 38 447). Our regression analysis of cross-sectional and panel data examines how large are the differences in life satisfaction according to marital status and cohabitation. We find that women and men in formal marriages experience higher levels of life satisfaction than do people in other family arrangements. Moreover, both multiple tests in the cross-section, and tests controlling for prior happiness in the panel analysis, suggest that this is a causal relationship. Aggregating up the levels of life satisfaction generated by different marriage and cohabitation arrangements across a lifetime, suggests that a life-long marriage is the most satisfying. Early divorce followed by an enduring second marriage is little worse (because little time is spent outside the married state). But divorce without remarriage, or long lasting cohabitation without formal marriage, reduce the lifetime sum of subjective well-being by 4-12% for both women and men.KEY WORDS: cohabition, divorce, life satisfaction, marriage, subjective well-being

Kelley CGE, Kelley SMC, Evans MDR, Kelley J. Attitudes toward home-based employment for mothers of young children: Australian evidence Int J Soc Welfare 2010: 19: 33–44 © 2008 The Author(s), Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of Social Welfare. People have mixed feelings about paid employment for mothers with young children. This might reflect opposition to women's work per se or, instead, fear that children are harmed by the mother's absence from the home. To find out, we developed new questions differentiating support for or opposition to mothers working for pay depending on whether the employment is home-based or outside the home. Data from a large representative national sample of Australia ( n= 1,324) show that public support for employment is about 30 percentage points greater if the mother works at home. Structural equation analyses show social differences in levels of support. Thus work at home provides a way of increasing labour force participation and earnings for mothers (with the welfare benefits that implies), which is congruent with public opinion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women’s workforce participation increased strongly over the 1980s and 1990s, especially among middle aged wives. Multivariate analysis of IsssA data (N =9412) reveals large compositional changes and a trend for succeeding cohorts of women to work more than their predecessors, but few if any period effects. Among the compositional changes, rising women’s education and falling fertility substantially elevate women’s workforce participation and hours worked. No clear time effects were associated with particular policy initiatives. Importantly, interaction tests suggest that the effects of education and of family situation have not changed over time. Finally, family of origin and religiosity have both direct and indirect effects. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]