Ciara Smyth, Margot Rawsthorne and Peter Siminski describe the labour market transition experiences of Australian mothers who are balancing work and family responsibilities. The study reveals the contextual, fluid and complex nature of the life and work decisions that women who are parents make over the life course.

Between 1995 and mid-2001 there was a large increase in the number of penalties imposed on income support recipients for breaches of social security rules and requirements. Tony Eardley, Jude Brown, Margot Rawsthorne, Kate Norris and Liz Emrys found, among other things, that it tends to be the more disadvantaged job seekers who face the...