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This paper estimates the impact of economic insecurity on the mental health of Australian adults. Taking microdata from the 2001–2011 HILDA panel survey, we develop a conceptually diverse set of insecurity measures and explore their relationships with the SF-36 mental health index. By using fixed effects models that control for unobservable heterogeneity we produce estimates that correct for endogeneity more thoroughly than previous works. Our results show that exposure to economic risks has small but consistently detrimental mental health effects. The main contribution of the paper however comes from the breadth of risks that are found to be harmful. Job insecurity, financial dissatisfaction, reductions and volatility in income, an inability to meet standard expenditures and a lack of access to emergency funds all adversely affect health. This suggests that the common element of economic insecurity (rather than idiosyncratic phenomena associated with any specific risk) is likely to be hazardous. Our preferred estimates indicate that a standard deviation shock to economic insecurity lowers an individual's mental health score by about 1.4 percentage points. If applied uniformly across the Australian population such a shock would increase the morbidity rate of mental disorders by about 1.7%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The literature has shown strong associations between health, financial and social life events and mental health. However, no studies as yet have looked at the temporal nature of the effects of life events on stated mental health nor have they included the effects of the events befalling partners within a household. This paper looks at the spillover in mental health, measured with the SF-36 scale, from one partner to the other, using life events to identify this relationship. We propose a new model that allows for both a temporal spacing of effects (anticipation and adaptation) as well as a spillover factor, which we define as the degree to which the events that are experienced by the partner affect us in the same way as if these events were to happen to us. We use data from 51,380 person-year observations of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey (2002–10) which consistently measures nine distinct events, including illnesses, social shocks and financial shocks. We find that the events befalling a partner on average have an effect about 15% as large as the effect of own events. We use the estimates to compute the compensation required to offset own and partner's life events. The methodology in this paper is potentially useful for estimating other spillover parameters such as the effects of others in the family or in the neighbourhood. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract This paper describes who is most likely to experience household employment insecurity and housing affordability stress – double precarity – and estimates the degree to which housing affordability mediates the effect of employment insecurity on mental health. We use a cohort of 24,201 participants in 2016 Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey (6.2 repeated measures on average). We estimate the likelihood of onset of household employment insecurity, housing affordability stress and change in housing costs using longitudinal regression analyses for socio-demographic groups. We assess mediation by estimating how much exposure variable coefficients attenuate with inclusion of a mediator in fixed effects regression models. We also apply causal mediation methods to fixed-effects regression models to better account for exposure-mediator interaction and meet strict model assumptions. If people's households become insecurely employed, there are five times greater odds of them also experiencing housing affordability stress (OR 4.99 95%CI 4.21–5.90). Key cohorts within the population are shown to be especially vulnerable to double precarity – notably single parents (OR 2.91, 95%CI 1.94–4.35) and people who live alone (OR 4.42, 95% CI 3.03–6.45) (compared to couples), and people who are recently separated or divorced (OR 2.59, 95%CI 1.81–3.70). Mediation analysis confirms that household employment insecurity has a small, negative effect on mental health (Beta −0.24, 95%CI -0.38-0.11 on a 1 to 100-point scale with 10-point standard deviation). Estimates from casual mediation analyses suggest housing affordability accounts for 20% of the total effect; likely concentrated in the lowest and highest strata of income. Employment and housing insecurity represent a form of double precarity for people in households with a single income. When we consider the impact on mental health, we find evidence of a causal relationship between insecure employment onset and mental health, around one fifth of which is mediated by changing housing cost and onset of affordability stress. Highlights • Insecurely employed households are five times as likely to have unaffordable housing. • Lone person and lone parent households are more susceptible to double precarity. • Housing costs mediate the impact of insecure employment on mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the health effects of the introduction of a near universal paid parental leave (PPL) scheme in Australia, representing a natural social policy experiment. Along with gender equity and workforce engagement, a goal of the scheme (18 weeks leave at the minimum wage rate) was to enhance the health and wellbeing of mothers and babies. Although there is evidence that leave, especially paid leave, can benefit mothers' health post-partum, the potential health benefits of implementing a nationwide scheme have rarely been investigated. The data come from two cross-sectional surveys of mothers (matched on their eligibility for paid parental leave), 2347 mother's surveyed pre-PPL and 3268 post-PPL. We investigated the scheme's health benefits for mothers, and the extent this varied by pre-birth employment conditions and job characteristics. Overall, we observed better mental and physical health among mothers after the introduction of PPL, although the effects were small. Post-PPL mothers on casual (insecure) contracts before birth had significantly better mental health than their pre-PPL counterparts, suggesting that the scheme delivered health benefits to mothers who were relatively disadvantaged. However, mothers on permanent contracts and in managerial or professional occupations also had significantly better mental and physical health in the post-PPL group. These mothers were more likely to combine the Government sponsored leave with additional, paid, employer benefits, enabling a longer paid leave package post-partum. Overall, the study provides evidence that introducing paid maternity leave universally delivers health benefits to mothers. However the modest 18 week PPL provision did little to redress health inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background People with disabilities have difficulties in obtaining work. However, evidence suggests that those with disabilities derive substantial mental health benefits from employment. This paper assesses how the relationship between work and mental health is influenced by psychosocial job quality for people working with a disability. Methods The study design was a longitudinal cohort with 13 annual waves of data collection, yielding a sample of 122,883 observations from 21,848 people. Fixed-effects within-person regression was used to control for time invariant confounding. The Mental Component Summary (MCS) of the Short Form 36 (SF-36) measure was used as the primary outcome measure. The main exposure was a six-category measure of psychosocial job quality and employment status (including ‘not in the labour force’ [NILF] and unemployment). Disability status (‘no waves of disability reported’ and ‘all contributed waves with reported disability’) was assessed as an effect modifier. We also conducted a secondary analysis on respondents contributing both disability and non-disability waves. Results For those with no disability, the greatest difference in mental health (compared to optimal employment) occurs when people have the poorest quality jobs (−2.12, 95% CI −2.48, −1.75, p < 0.001). The relative difference in mental health was less in relation to NILF and unemployment (−0.39 and −0.66 respectively). For those with consistent disability, the difference in mental health when employed in an optimal job was similar between the poorest quality jobs (−2.25, 95% CI −3.84, −0.65, p = 0.006), NILF (−2.84, 95% CI −4.49, −1.20, p = 0.001) or unemployment (−2.56, 95% CI −4.32, −0.80, p = 0.004). These results were confirmed by the secondary analysis. Conclusions Efforts to improve psychosocial job quality may have significant mental health benefits for people with disabilities. This will contribute to the economic viability of disability employment insurance schemes in Australia and other high-income countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates whether the Australian government's Coronavirus Supplement, a temporary income support payment for unemployed jobseekers during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, protected mental health (frequency of feeling anxious or depressed during the past week) by lowering financial stress (how comfortable people are in paying for essential services). We use unique nationally representative repeated cross-sectional data on 3843 unemployed Australian adults over the period April 6, 2020 to May 10, 2021. We find that the Coronavirus Supplement payment significantly reduced reported financial stress, and lower financial stress was associated with lower mental distress. Though the Coronavirus Supplement was designed to reduce financial stress, we find the Supplement was also successful in protecting community mental health indirectly via its ability to reduce financial stress. The findings provide support for income support packages to protect mental health during economic shocks. However, transitory support measures also tend have short-lived positive effects on mental health, suggesting that more permanent income support reform may have longer-term mental health benefits. • Did the Australian Coronavirus Supplement (CVS) protect mental health? • The CVS directly lowered financial stress. • The CVS indirectly reduced mental distress via lower financial stress. • Permanent support measures may be more beneficial than transitory ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The links between social capital and mental wellbeing are established but the direction of the social capital-wellbeing relationship is rarely systematically examined. This omission undermines the validity of social capital as a basis for health interventions. The aim of this paper was to explore the short-term (one-year) reciprocal relationship between community participation – an important component of social capital – and mental wellbeing. We used nationally representative Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey data, 2005–11. The HILDA Survey is an annual cohort study from which was extracted a sub-sample of panel data (the same people participating across multiple waves) enabling us to use fixed effects regression methods to model the longitudinal association of mental health and participation controlling for individual heterogeneity. The results showed that better mental wellbeing in one year was generally related to more community participation the next year, while greater past community participation was linked to better mental wellbeing the next year independent of (i) initial mental wellbeing, (ii) multiple potentially confounding factors and (iii) unobserved and time-constant heterogeneity. Political participation was marginally related to worse mental health in both directions. The results also showed that the association between community participation and mental wellbeing the next year is weaker for those with poor initial wellbeing than for initially healthier respondents. Our findings may inform the trial and scientific evaluation of programs aimed at increasing informal social connectedness and civic engagement to promote mental wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Previous research demonstrates that non-standard work schedules undermine the stability of marriage and reduce family cohesiveness. Limited research has investigated the effects of parents working non-standard schedules on children''s health and wellbeing and no published Australian studies have addressed this important issue. This paper contributes to bridging this knowledge gap by focusing on adolescents aged 15–20 years and by including sole parent families which have been omitted in previous research, using panel data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey. Multilevel linear regression models are estimated to analyse the association between parental work schedules and hours of work and measures of adolescents'' mental health derived from the SF-36 Health Survey. Evidence of negative impacts of parents working non-standard hours upon adolescent wellbeing is found to exist primarily within sole parent families. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper explores how drug treatment clients exercise agency while finding their ability to act curtailed by the strictures of treatment itself. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 77 male and female drug treatment clients collected in an Australian study of drug treatment and mental health, the experience of methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) and that of commonly prescribed medications for depression (antidepressants) are examined. The ways that clients engage with MMT and antidepressants are detailed, illustrating how both types of treatment can make clients feel dependent, but can also motivate clients to modify their treatment regimens. These modifications are “tactical” responses generated within the constraints of treatment regulations and can also be against clinical recommendations e.g. stopping treatment. Rather than seeing this as “non-compliance”, it is suggested that the negotiation of treatment is an inevitable response of clients trying to adapt to imperfect treatment conditions, who may have understandable anxieties about taking medication. The ways in which treatment providers might better acknowledge the capacities of MMT clients to engage with or modify treatment are discussed, as is the need to acknowledge drug treatment clients’ anxieties about dependency and pharmaceutical drugs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A growing proportion of women reach older age without having married or having children. Assumptions that these older women are lonely, impoverished, and high users of social and health services are based on little evidence. This paper uses data from the Older cohort of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women''s Health to describe self-reported demographics, physical and emotional health, and use of services among 10,108 women aged 73–78, of whom 2.7% are never-married and childless. The most striking characteristic of this group is their high levels of education, which are associated with fewer reported financial difficulties and higher rates of private health insurance. There are few differences in self-reported physical or emotional health or use of health services between these and other groups of older women. Compared with older married women with children, they make higher use of formal services such as home maintenance and meal services, and are also more likely to provide volunteer services and belong to social groups. Overall, there is no evidence to suggest that these women are a “problem” group. Rather, it seems that their life experiences and opportunities prepare them for a successful and productive older age. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]