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Investigating the Role of Neighbourhood Characteristics in Determining Life Satisfaction

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  • Robert Drago

    (Department of Labor Studies and Industrial Relations, Pennsylvania State University)

  • Mark Wooden

    (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne)

  • Yi-Ping Tseng

    (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne)

Abstract

Data from a representative survey of adult Australians are analysed for usual and preferred working time across family types. We discover a time divide regardless of gender and family type: many short hours individuals desire longer hours of employment, while many long hours individuals prefer shorter hours. The latter group is larger such that the average employee desires fewer hours across family types, with the exception of lone mothers. For dual-earner couples with children, men average approximately 20 hours more per week than women, a difference that would only decline to 18 hours per week if preferred hours were realized. However, approximately one-fifth of these couples exhibited egalitarian or nearly equal working hours. Egalitarian couples averaged a combined 84 hours per week of employment, tended to share the care of children, were more likely to be non-Australian born, and included marked numbers of women holding degrees and in professional occupations.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert Drago & Mark Wooden & Yi-Ping Tseng, 2004. "Investigating the Role of Neighbourhood Characteristics in Determining Life Satisfaction," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2004n01, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    • Handle: RePEc:iae:iaewps:wp2004n01
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    Cited by:

    1. Bruce Headey & Mark Wooden, 2004. "The Effects of Wealth and Income on Subjective Well‐Being and Ill‐Being," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 80(s1), pages 24-33, September.
    2. Platt, Lucinda & Nandi, Alita & Knies, Gundi, 2014. "Life satisfaction, ethnicity and neighbourhoods: is there an effect of neighbourhood ethnic composition on life satisfaction?," ISER Working Paper Series 2014-08, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    3. Gundi Knies & Simon Burgess & Carol Propper, 2008. "Keeping up with the Schmidt`s – An Empirical Test of Relative Deprivation Theory in the Neighbourhood Context," Schmollers Jahrbuch : Journal of Applied Social Science Studies / Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 128(1), pages 75-108.
    4. Stanley, John K. & Hensher, David A. & Stanley, Janet R., 2022. "Place-based disadvantage, social exclusion and the value of mobility," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 101-113.
    5. Gundi Knies, 2012. "Income Comparisons Among Neighbours and Satisfaction in East and West Germany," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 106(3), pages 471-489, May.
    6. Matthew Manning & Christopher L. Ambrey & Christopher M. Fleming, 2016. "A Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Wellbeing in Australia," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 17(6), pages 2503-2525, December.
    7. Rosanna Scutella & Mark Wooden, 2006. "Effects of Household Joblessness on Subjective Well-Being," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2006n10, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    8. Ambrey, Christopher L. & Fleming, Christopher M., 2011. "The influence of the natural environment and climate on life satisfaction in Australia," 2011 Conference (55th), February 8-11, 2011, Melbourne, Australia 100548, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
    9. David G. Blanchflower & Andrew J. Oswald, 2005. "Happiness and the Human Development Index: The Paradox of Australia," NBER Working Papers 11416, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Joerg Dittmann & Jan Goebel, 2010. "Your House, Your Car, Your Education: The Socioeconomic Situation of the Neighborhood and its Impact on Life Satisfaction in Germany," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 96(3), pages 497-513, May.
    11. Jing Zou & Xiaojun Deng, 2021. "The complex association between migrants’ residential community choice and subjective well‐being: Evidence from urban China," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(3), pages 1652-1679, September.
    12. Lowe, Chris & Stanley, John & Stanley, Janet, 2018. "A broader perspective on social outcomes in transport," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 482-488.
    13. Stavrova, Olga & Schlösser, Thomas & Fetchenhauer, Detlef, 2011. "Are the unemployed equally unhappy all around the world? The role of the social norms to work and welfare state provision in 28 OECD countries," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 159-171, February.
    14. Philip Morrison, 2011. "Local Expressions of Subjective Well-being: The New Zealand Experience," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(8), pages 1039-1058.
    15. Gundi Knies, 2010. "Income Comparisons among Neighbours and Life Satisfaction in East and West Germany," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 298, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    16. Siobhan Austen & Noelle Leonard, 2008. "Measuring Women's Quality of Life: A Discussion of Alternative Approaches," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 66(3), pages 325-349.

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