How Australia survived the global financial crisis unscathed

A detailed picture of how Australia coped during the global financial crisis has been provided by the latest report from the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey, produced by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research at the University of Melbourne.

This year's wide-ranging report has an emphasis on the implications of the global financial crisis and the health of Australians.

A series of factsheets have been developed to explain key findings, including:

• Australian life satisfaction relatively stable through the GFC (http://bitly.com/NajOsh).
• Australian household incomes increased through the GFC (http://bitly.com/MU9vMm)
• Job losses jumped the most for skilled workers aged 25-44 (http://bitly.com/N8Ikg3).
• Household income levels affect access to dental care (http://bitly.com/NAMnzq).

The HILDA Survey is Australia's only large-scale nationally representative longitudinal household survey which interviews the same households and individuals each year, showing how Australian lives have changed over time.

The University of Melbourne's Associate Professor Roger Wilkins was the report's lead author.

"Since its creation in 2001 the HILDA Survey has been providing powerful insights that allow a deeper understanding of a wide variety of issues that affect Australian lives," Associate Professor Wilkins said.

"This volume continues this practice and in particular reflects on the implications of the global financial crisis on Australia."

The HILDA Survey report has been divided into Part A: Annual Update, which focuses on changes in key aspects of life in Australia, and Part B: Feature Articles, which analyses specific topics in more detail.

Part A includes findings on Households and Family Life (changes in family structures; changes in marital status and marital satisfaction; parenting and work-family stress; child care issues; and people's major life-events in the past year);

Incomes and Economic Wellbeing (people's relative position in the distribution of household incomes; a description of the extent and nature of poverty; people's reliance on welfare; financial stress experienced; and a study of expenditure on household products and services);

Labour Market Outcomes (an analysis of people who are employed vs. non-employed; changes in wage levels; how often people change jobs and why; differences between hours worked and work-hours preferred by people; household joblessness; and job satisfaction), and;

Life Satisfaction, Health and Wellbeing (assessments of their psychological wellbeing and physical health; satisfaction with family relationships and aspects of family life; the types of people with a shortfall in their social support networks; and people's participation in the labour force and education sector.)

Part B includes nine feature articles that examine:

• The prevalence and difficulties caused by health conditions
• Health care utilisation
• Child health and health care utilisation
• Health care expenditure and private health insurance
• Expectations about health and length of life
• Hours of work and job mobility
• The stability of personality traits
• Employment transitions of mothers
• Determinants of subjective wellbeing