Family and Society Program


Program Manager: Michael Alexander
Program staff

Current Projects
Completed Projects
Publications

 

Program Overview

The Family and Society Program focuses on the relation between the family and other social institutions. Changes in society have a direct impact on family life, just as changes in family life can have implications for other aspects of social organisation. To understand the contemporary family in Australia, we have to understand the changing relations between it and three sets of social institutions. Changes in any one of these three areas will have impacts upon the way in which families operate. Families contribute to, and are in turn affected by: the economy and market; the welfare system and interaction with government; and social life and the community. The Family and Society Program, therefore, focuses broadly on the relation between family change and economic and social change.

 

Ageing and Inter-generational Exchanges within Families

Project Manager: Michael Alexander

The ageing of the Australian population has important implications for the provision of care for people in society, including: (a) the role of grandparents in providing child care; (b) the needs of and support for the growing elderly population; (c) financial and 'in kind' support and transfers across generations; and (d) implications for the so called 'sandwich generation' - that is, women, typically in their sixties, who have multiple caring responsibilities such as taking care of ageing parents, their spouse and own children, as well as grandchildren.

Institute research into family exchanges focuses on the giving and receiving of emotional, social, material and financial support. It considers the internal processes of family interaction, such as family cohesion and solidarity, and how these impact on the interface between families and society - for example, in the spheres of welfare, health and child care services, and interaction with the labour force.

Outputs from the project to date are: the paper Measuring the value of unpaid household, caring and voluntary work of older Australians, presented to an international research conference; the Institute prepared a submission on ageing for the House of Representatives Inquiry into Long-Term Strategies to Address the Ageing of the Australian Population; and, the Summer 2003 edition of Family Matters with the theme 'Ageing: Issues for Australian Families' focused on multiple aspects of ageing.

Ageing and Inter-generational Exchanges - Publications

 

The Dynamics of Low Income, Welfare Reliance, and Changes in Family Structure of Parents with Dependent Children

Project Manager: Michael Alexander

The Dynamics of Low Income, Welfare Reliance, and Changes in Family Structure of Parents with Dependent Children project is a three-year Australian Research Council Linkage project which is being undertaken in collaboration with the Department of Family and Community Services and the Australian National University. The project will build a new seven-year longitudinal database, from the Department's administrative records and supplementary surveys, for low-income parents with dependent children. This will allow analysis of the dynamics of, and interrelationships among, changes in family structure, income and welfare reliance.

The project will help policy makers evaluate the impacts of existing government income support and work related programs. This project is in the preliminary development stages.

 

Family and Work Decisions

Project Manager: Michael Alexander

The Family and Work Decisions project is a study of work decisions of families with dependent children. This project is being conducted in partnership with the Department of Family and Community Services. The project adopts several approaches to understanding this issue. The first strand of the project has involved the analysis of existing secondary data to explore the determinants of mothers' labour force status and reasons for the changes which have occurred in recent decades. The second strand of the project involves reviewing the international experience of welfare reform and implications for Australian social policy.

The project's third strand focuses on people's knowledge and understanding of the income support system and the way in which it interacts with paid employment, and decisions about labour force participation, living arrangements, and family formation. In order to answer these questions a survey of 2,405 mothers (1245 partnered and 1160 lone mothers) was undertaken. More details are available from the study's questionnaire (Word (240 KB) | PDF (416 KB)) and fieldwork report (RTF (546 KB) | PDF (286K ) which provides discussion of the research questions, sample selection, procedures followed, response rates obtained etc. Further results from the survey will be published over the next 12 months.

A particular focus of the study is the labour force and family decisions of lone mothers, a group of great policy interest but about whom there are few large-scale survey data available. The final strand of the project involves conducting follow-up qualitative interviews with seventy of the mothers who participated in the large scale survey.

Related research has focused on the impact of relationship breakdown on the economic wellbeing of Australian mothers and their children using data from the HILDA survey.

Family and Work Decisions - Publications

 

Work and Family

Project Manager: Michael Alexander

The average hours worked by full-time employees in Australia have increased since the late 1970s. This, combined with increases in female labour force participation, has led to concerns about the impact of long work hours on family life. This project explores the relationship between fathers' work hours, their own wellbeing and that of their families using data from the HILDA survey.

Work and Family - Publications

 

Families, Social Capital and Citizenship - Completed Project

The key aims of the Families, Social Capital and Citizenship project were to document and understand the extent and diversity of family engagement in the community, economy, and in Australian political life. A primary goal was to explain different patterns of engagement and wellbeing among families in a range of circumstances, living in different sorts of communities. The project aimed to inform the growing policy and social concern about the perceived erosion of community networks and civic society. As well, it aimed to arm community groups and service providers with knowledge about social capital and how it can best be used to inform policy and practice to assist Australian families and communities.

The project has also provided a basis on which to advise and assist family and community practitioners about the role of social capital in assisting families and communities to prosper. The Institute's work on Social Capital has been extensively cited in important government reports. For example, the Productivity Commission's report Social Capital: Reviewing the Concept and its Policy Implications (PDF 469 KB) and the Australian Bureau of Statistics report Measuring Social Capital: An Australian Framework and Indicators Information Paper.

Families, Social Capital and Citizenship - Publications

 

Measuring Social Capital in Families First Communities 4 Kids in the Inner West - Completed project

As well as the core work of the Families, Social Capital and Citizenship project, the Institute gained an opportunity to undertake community-based social capital research, to benchmark the nature and distribution of social capital in three specific communities.

The project team won a tender to undertake a social capital benchmarking survey in three inner-West Sydney communities including among service providers. The project, Measuring Social Capital in Families First Communities 4 Kids in the Inner West, was undertaken for Families First, Department of Community Services, NSW, and conducted between May 2002 and January 2003.

The project involved a series of community surveys and qualitative data collection. This community-based approach to measuring social capital provided an invaluable opportunity to link the ongoing work of the Families Social Capital and Citizenship project with grounded service provision, and directly inform policy and service providers about the facilitation of social capital and community capacity.

 

Publications

See also Staff Conference papers and presentations and for earlier publications the AIFS publications list. The AIFS annual report also provides an appendix of 'Staff publications, presentations and professional involvement'.


Ageing and Inter-generational Exchanges

de Vaus, D., Gray, M. and Stanton, D. (2003), 'The value of unpaid work of older Australians'. Family Matters no.66 Summer: 34-39. Abstract

de Vaus, D., Gray, M. and Stanton, D. (2003), Measuring the value of unpaid household, caring and voluntary work of older Australians. Melbourne, Vic: Australian Institute of Family Studies. (Research paper no.34)

Millward, C. (2003), 'Effects on family life of parents working non-standard or 'atypical' hours.' Proceedings of the Health, Work and Families Forum, August 2003. Canberra, ACT: National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University, p29-39. Proceedings (PDF 3.1MB)

'Measuring the value of unpaid household, caring and voluntary work of older Australians', by Matthew Gray, David de Vaus and David Stanton. Paper presented at 4th International Research Conference on Social Security, Antwerp, May 2003. Paper (PDF 751 KB)

Family and Work Decisions

2005

Gray, M. and Renda, J. (2005), 'Family and Work Decisions Study: fieldwork report'. Melbourne, Vic: AIFS, 2005, 19p. (RTF (546 KB) | PDF (286K )

2004

Gray, M., Qu, L., Stanton, D. and Weston, R. (2004), 'Long work hours and the wellbeing of fathers and their families.' Australian Journal of Labour Economics v.7 no.2: 255-273.

Hand, K. and Hughes, J. (2004), 'Mothers' reflections about work and family life.' Family Matters no.69 Spring/Summer: 44-49. Abstract

2003

Gray, M., Qu, L., de Vaus, D. and Millward, C. (2003), 'Determinants of Australian mothers' employment: An analysis of lone and couple mothers', Australian Journal of Labour Economics v.6 no.4 Dec: 597-617.

Gray, M., Qu, L., Renda, J. and de Vaus, D. (2003), Changes in the labour force status of lone and couple Australian mothers, 1983-2002, Melbourne, Vic: Australian Institute of Family Studies, 24p. (Research paper no.33)

Renda, J. (2003). 'Polarisation of families according to work status. Where does part-time employment fit in?' Family Matters no.64 Autumn: 16-21. Paper (PDF 274 KB)

2002

Family and Work Decisions Study: questionnaire. Melbourne, Vic: Wallis Consulting on behalf of AIFS, 2002, 39p. (Word (240 KB) | PDF (416K )

Gray, M., Qu, L. and de Vaus, D. and Millward, C. (2002), Determinants of Australian mother's employment: an analysis of lone and couple mothers, Melbourne, Vic: Australian Institute of Family Studies, 40p. (Research paper no.26)

Gray, M. and Stanton, D. (2002), Lessons of United States welfare reforms for Australian social policy Melbourne, Vic: Australian Institute of Family Studies, 32p. (Research paper no.29)

Work and Family

2005

Gray, M. and Hughes, J. (2005), 'Caring for children and adults: differential access to family-friendly work arrangements.' Family Matters no.70 Autumn: 18-25. Abstract

Hand, K. (2005), 'Mother's views on using formal child care.' Family Matters no.70 Autumn: 44-49. Abstract

2004

Hand, K. and Huges, J. (2004), 'Mothers' reflections about work and family life.' Family Matters no.69 Spring - Summer: 44-49.Abstract

Renda, J. and Hughes, J. (2004), 'The value mothers place on paid work and their feelings of life control.' Family Matters no.68 Winter: 76-83. Abstract

2002

Gray, M. and Tudball, J. (2002),'Access to family-friendly work practices: differences within and between Australian workplaces', . Family Matters no.61 Autumn: 30-35. Paper (PDF 307 KB)

Gray, M. and Tudball, J. (2002), Family-friendly work practices: differences within and between workplaces, . Melbourne, Vic: Australian Institute of Family Studies, 40p. (Research report no.7)

Gray, M. and Stanton, D. (2002), 'Work and family life: our workplaces, families and futures'. Family Matters no.61 Autumn: 4-11. Paper (PDF 485 KB)

Millward, C. (2002) 'Work rich, family poor? Non-standard working hours and family life'. Family Matters no.61 Autumn: 40-47. Paper (PDF 449 KB)

Families, Social Capital and Citizenship

2002-2004

Hughes, J. and Stone, W. (2004), 'Family and community life: exploring the decline thesis'. Transition Spring: 7-12.

Hughes, J. and Stone, W. (2003), 'Family and community life: exploring the decline thesis.' Family Matters no.65 Winter: 40-47. Abstract

Hughes, J. and Stone, W. (2003), Family change and community life: exploring the links. Melbourne, Vic: Australian Institute of Family Studies, 41p. (Research paper no.32)

Stone, W. (2003), 'Bonding, bridging and linking with social capital'. Stronger Families Learning Exchange Bulletin no.4 Spring/Summer: 13-16.

Stone, W., Gray, M. and Hughes, J. (2003), Social capital at work: How family, friends and civic ties relate to labour market outcomes. Melbourne, Vic: Australian Institute of Family Studies, 34p. (Research paper no.31)

Stone, W., Gray, M. and Hughes, J. (2003) 'Social capital at work: An Australian illustration' Horizons v.6 no.3: 55-60.

Hughes, J. and Stone, W. (2002), Families, social capital and citizenship project: fieldwork report, Paper (PDF 56 KB)

Stone, W. and Hughes, J. (2002), Social capital: empirical meaning and measurement validity, Melbourne, Vic: Australian Institute of Family Studies, 64p. (Research Paper no.27)

Stone, W. and Hughes, J. (2002), 'Understanding community strengths.' Family Matters no.61 Autumn: 62-67. Paper (PDF 388 KB)

2000-2001

Stone, W. (2001), Measuring social capital: towards a theoretically informed measurement framework for researching social capital in family and community life. Melbourne, Vic: Australian Institute of Family Studies, 34p. (Research paper no.24)

Winter, I. (2000), Towards a theorised understanding of family life and social capital. Melbourne, Vic: Australian Institute of Family Studies, 18p. (Working paper no.21)

Winter, I., ed. (2000), Social capital and public policy in Australia. Melbourne, Vic: Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2000, 324p.

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