By contrast with findings from the United States, Andrew Leigh finds no evidence that the gender of the first child has a significant impact on the decision to marry or divorce in Australia. However, among two-child families, parents with two children of the same sex are 1.7 percentage points less likely to be married than...

What happens to children in the early years has consequences right through the course of their lives. There are many opportunities to intervene and make a difference to the lives of children and young people. The evidence shows the most effective time to intervene is early childhood, including the antenatal period. This Policy Brief explores...

Changes in the affordability of child care have implications for many areas of policy. From an adult’s perspective, it affects balancing work and family, participation in the labour force, participation in education and training, and community involvement. From a child’s perspective, it affects equitable access for all children to opportunities to learn and develop through...

Recent public debate about the child care system in Australia has focused primarily on the availability and affordability of child care. Drawing on the results of a national survey of long day care centre staff, Emma Rush considers the quality of the care provided. For all the aspects of quality care investigated, results show that...

The Children and Families in Transition project aims to research the experiences and special service needs of separated families and their children in order to develop early intervention strategies to promote child-centred practices and positive, cooperative parenting. In this report on Phase A of the program, Dale Bagshaw, Karolyne Quinn and Birte Schmidt discuss an...