#9 September 2005 - Melbourne Institute News

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Melbourne Institute News September 2005 ISSN 1442-9500 (print)

ISSN 1442-9519 (online)

Print Post Approved PP381667/01204

Issue 9

Inequalities of Aussie Wealth

The HILDA Survey An overview of Australia’s first significant householdbased panel study, the HILDA Survey, and the upcoming HILDA Survey Research Conference. Page 2

From Unemployment to DSP Lixin Cai and Bob Gregory find that over 40 per cent of new DSP recipients moved directly from unemployment benefits to DSP between 1997 and 2002. Page 3

Regulating Smokers Hielke Buddelmeyer and Roger Wilkins find that stringent new smoking regulations do encourage some smokers to stub out their butts for good, but not defiant young smokers, who just keep puffing away. Page 4

Opinion John Freebairn shares his opinion on the current unemployment rate of 5 per cent, believing it to be closer to 10 per cent. Page 6

Stark inequalities of wealth in Australia are documented by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research in the first significant study of individual wealth holdings since World War 1. Among the Melbourne Institute’s findings is that the ‘bottom half ’ of Australia’s population owns less than 10 per cent of total household net worth, while the wealthiest 10 per cent owns 45 per cent. The study was conducted by Melbourne Institute researchers Dr Bruce Headey, Dr Gary Marks and Professor Mark Wooden as part of the HILDA Survey. Their findings are based on an analysis of the distribution of household wealth in Australia and its relationships with demographic and social factors. According to Dr Marks, finding an unequal wealth distribution was not unexpected. He says that although there is no evidence that wealth inequality has increased over the past decade, wealth is much more unequally distributed than household income. Dr Headey, referring to findings that property is the largest component of assets, says many Australians end up with no cash when they retire because they have locked it into their house. He also points out that wealth is heavily skewed to age. ‘Wealth is only weakly related to a person’s socioeconomic background’, he comments. ‘These findings are significant to all Australians’, says Professor Wooden. Cont’d page 2.

www.melbourneinstitute.com Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research - Page 1


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