Media & Commentary
Media Items
Australians are working longer so they can pay off their mortgage debt
Rising mortgage debt is affecting everything from employment to spending, as Australians approach retirement, our study finds. Higher levels of housing debt among pre-retirees are linked to them working for longer. We found for a home owner aged 45-64 years,... Read article
Women rely on the family home to support them in old age
Thanks in part to the gender pay gap, the gender wealth gap more than doubled between 2002 and 2014. But our research shows Australian women don’t just trail men in total wealth, they also have less diverse asset portfolios. Women... Read article
FactCheck: will 700,000 workers be ‘ripped off’ by penalty rate cuts, as Bill Shorten said?
Author Joshua Healy, University of Melbourne Reviewer Rebecca Cassells, Curtin University Malcolm Turnbull’s cuts to penalty rates will rip off 700,000 workers… – Labor leader Bill Shorten, in a Labor-produced recorded phone call to voters released in March 2017. The... Read article
Payment delays impacting on vitality of WA small businesses
— Small business second largest contributor to WA economy at $40bn — — Fewer than one in ten small businesses in WA export to international markets — The Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre’s (BCEC) new Small Business Survey 2017 reveals that... Read article
Get used to your commute: data confirms houses near jobs are too expensive
Australia’s capital cities are getting more and more units, that are largely concentrated and come with a hefty price tag, a new report shows. And while these areas also have lots of jobs, the high price for houses means many... Read article
Housing supply not matching population growth in some capital cities
New research from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) and the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), reveals that increases in housing stock in Sydney and Perth have failed to match population growth in these capitals. Housing supply responsiveness... Read article
Budget needs a sharper policy scalpel to help first home buyers
In its 2017 budget, the federal government repeatedly stated its preference for a “scalpel” rather than a “chainsaw” or “sledgehammer” approach to demand management in the housing market. The number of housing measures in the budget are more wide-ranging than... Read article
Government spending explained in 10 charts; from Howard to Turnbull
Alan Duncan, Curtin University and Rebecca Cassells, Curtin University Successive Australian governments are usually judged on how they balance the budget and spend taxpayers’ dollars. The stereotypes are that Liberal governments keep a tight hold on the purse strings, while... Read article
Job itself not pay the key to happiness at work
— Job satisfaction highest for older workers — — Tasmanians more likely to report higher job satisfaction — — Small businesses happier than big — New research conducted by Curtin University, in collaboration with Making Work Absolutely Human (mwah.), reveals... Read article
Governments are trapped in a vicious cycle of housing policies and prices
Whether house prices have been inflated by limited supply, or because of transfers to investors and homeowners, government policy is now trapped in a vicious cycle. The wealth accumulated in our houses has become a central part of the retirement... Read article
Senate Inquiry Submission: Gender segregation in the workplace and its impact on women’s economic equality
Researchers within the Centre have focussed a great deal of their academic work in examining social and economic issues affecting the economic equality and security of women. This submission brings together a new body of evidence based on recent research... Read article
Not everyone wins from the bank of mum and dad
The “bank of mum and dad” is helping young Australians with more than just their housing aspirations. New analysis of data on children receiving an inheritance or cash payment from their parents has found they are more likely to be... Read article