The longitudinal Life Chances study arose from the Brotherhood of St Laurence's (BSL's) concern about the level of child poverty in Australia and a desire to better understand what affects children's life chances. It began with the parents of 167 infants born in two suburbs in inner Melbourne in 1990. The children were a representative cross-section of all births in the suburbs at that time. Each stage of the study has highlighted the impacts of advantage and disadvantage on life chances.
Stage 12 examines the participants of the study who turned 30 in 2020. Turning 30 has been associated with
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The longitudinal Life Chances study arose from the Brotherhood of St Laurence's (BSL's) concern about the level of child poverty in Australia and a desire to better understand what affects children's life chances. It began with the parents of 167 infants born in two suburbs in inner Melbourne in 1990. The children were a representative cross-section of all births in the suburbs at that time. Each stage of the study has highlighted the impacts of advantage and disadvantage on life chances.
Stage 12 examines the participants of the study who turned 30 in 2020. Turning 30 has been associated with the establishment of a career, financial independence, family formation, home ownership and other signifiers of adulthood. Over the past three decades, economic and social change means that these expectations have been shaken and no longer hold true for many 30-year-olds. This report focuses on economic security and financial wellbeing, observing a noticeable trend of needing to rely on family resources. Changes in social and economic policy mean that there is an effective shift towards reliance on the family safety net, a trend known as familialism. Of course, families have always provided support but policy that relies on such support entrenches inequities, as not all families can provide the same level of support.
The report argues that reversing the drift towards familialism requires a commitment to policies focused on creating a just and equitable future for all. This would see investment in sustainable and inclusive jobs, quality education, affordable health care, housing and child care. It would include providing adequate social security to meet current and future challenges.
Edited excerpts from publication and publisher's website.
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