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Aim: To identify the maternal and infant characteristics associated with an early transition from full breastfeeding to complementary or no breastfeeding during the first 2 months of life in a large, representative cohort of Australian infants. Method: Multinomial logistic modelling was performed on data for infants with complete breastfeeding and sociodemographic data (N = 4679) including maternal age, education, smoking, employment, pregnancy and birth outcomes. Results: Ninety-one percent of women initiated breastfeeding. Sixty-nine percent of infants were being fully breastfed at 1 month, and 59% were fully breastfed at 2 months. Maternal characteristics – age less than 25 years, smoking in pregnancy, early full-time postnatal employment and less educational attainment – were associated with early breastfeeding cessation. Infant factors – multiple birth, caesarean birth, infant or first birth – were associated with a transition to complementary breastfeeding in the first postnatal month. Conclusion: Breastfeeding duration is substantially affected by breastfeeding outcomes in the first postpartum month. The first month is an important window for evidence-based interventions to improve rates of full breastfeeding in groups of women identified as at risk of early breastfeeding cessation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the timing of mothers' return to work using data from the 2005 Parental Leave in Australia Survey (PLAS), which was nested in Wave 1.5 of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC). The analyses explore differences in timing of return to work, within 18 months after a birth, according to mothers' use of leave and employment before the birth of their child. Results showed that having worked before the birth was a strong predictor of timing of return after the birth. For those who were employed, those who used no leave had a relatively slow return to work, while among those who used leave, whether leave was paid, unpaid or a combination of paid and unpaid did not result in large differences in the likelihood of a mother returning to work by 18 months after the birth. Women who used only paid leave had a slightly higher rate of return to work than those who used unpaid leave, either on its own or in combination with paid leave. There were larger differences in timing of return within this 18-month period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on census data, a fall in rates of home ownership has been observed among Australians aged less than 35 years. There is debate as to whether this fall is due to changing affordability (Yates 1999, 2002) or to delays in family formation among young Australians (Mudd et al. 2001). The first explanation implies that more Australians will not achieve home ownership across their lifetime; the second that home ownership is merely delayed. Using recent data collections, the proportion that had purchased a house by each age for successive cohorts is examined while simultaneously controlling for family formation and other characteristics. Year of birth is taken as the indicator of changing affordability across time. We find that once other characteristics are controlled, there is no indication of falls in home ownership across birth cohorts. If anything, more recent birth cohorts are more likely to be homeowners than earlier cohorts. Formal marriage is the key variable associated with entry to home ownership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]