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Editor's note
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The great Australian dream of “owning your own home” has dominated our thinking about housing, at least until recent years. Soaring property prices have now pushed the proportion of renters among us to one in three, but not everyone is forced to rent. Among the 27% of households that rent from a private landlord are people who choose to rent – even if they could afford to buy a home.
Their reasons? Overwhelmingly, as they told Alan Morris and his fellow researchers, it’s the flexibility they get from not having the burden of a mortgage and a home to maintain – or even an unsatisfactory relationship. One woman told them: “I just got up one day and walked cos I knew he was going to ask me to marry him the next day … I went for a walk, never went home.”
Most renters don’t take flexibility that far, but it’s clear ours is an age in which transience has come to be valued, not scorned, by some who choose to rent.
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John Watson
Section Editor: Cities + Policy
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Top stories
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fizkes/Shutterstock
Alan Morris, University of Technology Sydney; Hal Pawson, UNSW; Kath Hulse, Swinburne University of Technology
One in four Australian households now rent their homes in the private rental market. Flexibility and lifestyle are key reasons some choose to rent even if they can afford to buy a home.
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Bianca de Marchi/AAP
Simon Rice, University of Sydney
The federal government's bill is striking in one respect: it actively allows a person to discriminate on the basis of their religious beliefs.
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From shutterstock.com
Mia Schaumberg, University of the Sunshine Coast
A Twitter storm recently erupted over claims ibuprofen can reduce menstrual flow by up to 50%. There is some evidence ibuprofen could make your period lighter – but not by this much.
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Business + Economy
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Nicholas Gruen, University of Technology Sydney
People who do good voluntarily in their own time get the lowest awards. Others get rewarded for holding high-status jobs.
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Science + Technology
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Gail Broadbent, UNSW; Graciela Metternicht, UNSW
There's still a long road ahead in the electric car revolution. But Australia can learn from New Zealand's policies to boost electric car sales.
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Sophie Cross, Curtin University
There are 60,000 abandoned mines in Australia. How do we restore them so that animals return? A researcher's epic fieldwork project in WA's Mid West could help provide the answers.
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Education
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Peter Goss, Grattan Institute
Our model on an expert career path for top teachers would transform school education, further professionalise learning and lead to students gaining about 18 months of extra learning by age 15.
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Catherine Gomes, RMIT University; Shanton Chang, University of Melbourne
Universities have put in place many measures to help international students. But online classes are not a simple solution, and the government could help with the extra money students have to spend.
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Arts + Culture
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Haiqing Yu, RMIT University
As cities have shut down and residential compounds have issued curfews, social media in China have become more important than ever. But it is a place of rumours and mistruths.
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Politics + Society
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
Parliament's first week for 2020 was a hectic one, with the fallout from the 'sports rorts' affair requiring a Cabinet reshuffle, and Adam Bandt being elected the new leader of The Greens.
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Rahul Sen, Auckland University of Technology
New Zealand has become more economically dependent on China than many nations in the past generation, with a 12-fold jump in trade in commercial services.
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Health + Medicine
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Anastasia Hronis, University of Technology Sydney
It is possible to 'gamble responsibly', with these handy tips. But if you can't, there's help.
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