What the huge HILDA survey reveals about your economic well-being, health and family life

Editor's note

Since 2001, the huge Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey has asked the same group of Australians about their economic well-being, health and family life. This year’s report, out today, reveals some surprising trends.

For example, as Roger Wilkins explains today, about 50% of male respondents got full marks on a set of five financial literacy questions, but only about 35% of female respondents did. How would you score? Do the quiz in today’s story to find out.

And in the latest episode of our podcast Trust Me, I’m An Expert, Roger Wilkins shares what he found most surprising about this year’s HILDA results. It turns out household spending on energy is actually falling, more young people delay getting a driver’s license than in the past, and the share of people who describe themselves as “self-employed” is shrinking.

Sunanda Creagh

Head of Digital Storytelling

Top story

The latest HILDA data found women exhibiting much lower levels of financial literacy than men. Shutterstock

HILDA Survey reveals striking gender and age divide in financial literacy. Test yourself with this quiz

Roger Wilkins, University of Melbourne

The Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey, out today, found women exhibiting much lower levels of financial literacy than men. How do you score?

Business + Economy

Australians worry more about losing jobs overseas than to robots

Nicholas Biddle, Australian National University; Jill Sheppard, Australian National University; Matthew Gray, Australian National University

Most Australian workers are fairly relaxed about their own job security, but they do worry about the risks of poor management and outsourcing to cheaper labour.
Starter's gun goes off on new phase of media concentration as Nine-Fairfax lead the way

Tim Dwyer, University of Sydney

Australian media ownership is already among the most concentrated in the world, but if the competition regulator approves the Nine-Fairfax deal, expect the race for survival to produce more mergers.
What's really driving the future of retail?

Jason Pallant, Swinburne University of Technology

Specific predictions go obsolete fast, but some common themes are emerging – convenience, fragmentation, intelligence, personalisation and experience.

Podcast
Trust Me, I'm An Expert: what the huge HILDA survey reveals about your economic well-being, health and family life Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation; Justin Bergman, The Conversation On today's episode, we'll hear what the huge HILDA survey says on Australians' financial literacy, energy use, how many of us are delaying getting a driver's license and how our economy is changing.

Politics + Society

Victorian minister plays hardball with Turnbull on the NEG

Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra

“We won't support a scheme that leaves the states in the dark and leaves us all hostage to the extremists in Turnbull's party room,” D'Ambrosio will say.
Longman result shows Queensland vote is volatile and One Nation remains potent

Chris Salisbury, The University of Queensland

There were lessens for both major parties in Longman- more worrying for the Coalition than Labor. It showed voter volatility and disenchantment, and that One Nation remains a powerful force.
Turnbull's chief of staff to be new Public Service Commissioner

Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra

Woolcott is a public servant with a career in diplomacy. While in the Turnbull office he has been on leave from his position as a deputy secretary in the Department of Foreign Affairs.
The evidence suggests Serena Williams is not being discriminated against by drug testers

Daryl Adair, University of Technology Sydney

By using her public profile to suggest bias in drug-testing, Williams is calling into question the integrity of those tasked with the role of monitoring 'clean sport'.

Cities
How the everyday commute is changing who we are David Bissell, University of Melbourne We see the daily commute as a waste of time. But there's another way to see the experience: a whole life in the events and memories we form during these journeys, which change us as human beings.

Education
Why school kids need more exposure to the world of work Kate Torii, Victoria University Schools can't equip students with all the skills they need once they start work, especially STEM and digital skills. Here's one way they can better prepare their students for life after school.

Health + Medicine

Science or Snake Oil: do 'rescue remedies' ease stress?

Ken Harvey, Monash University

Bach's rescue remedies are tiny amounts of boiled flowers mixed with brandy. There's little surprise there's no evidence of their effectiveness.
Poor and elderly Australians let down by ailing primary health system

Hal Swerissen, Grattan Institute; Stephen Duckett, Grattan Institute

Primary care services are usually our first point of contact with the health system. Each year, about A$50 billion – nearly a third of all health expenditure – is spent on more than 400 million primary…

Science + Technology

Sharing your #shopping on social media can damage your health and your wallet

Hillbun Ho, University of Technology Sydney

When young adults create and share online content focused on consumer products, it can trigger a social comparison process that results in feelings of inferiority and low self-esteem.
What if the companies that profit from your data had to pay you?

Vincent Mitchell, University of Sydney

Personal data is sold, bought and traded among companies all the time. But what if the companies profiting from your data had to pay you a share of that earning?

Arts + Culture
Opera's digital revolution may be the key to increasing the artform's appeal Caitlin Vincent, Deakin University Opera Australia's new production of Aida features movable LED panels with digital scenery. It's part of a revolution transforming the art form.

Environment + Energy

The National Energy Guarantee is a flagship policy. So why hasn't the modelling been made public?

Bruce Mountain, Victoria University

A policy that aims to reshape the electricity sector needs to be judged on its numbers. But the lack of public modelling from the Energy Security Board makes it impossible for analysts to do this.
The Laos disaster reminds us that local people are too often victims of dam development

Jason von Meding, University of Newcastle; Giuseppe Forino, University of Newcastle; Tien Le Thuy Du, University of Houston

Images of the aftermath of the Xepian-Xe Nam Noy dam collapse in Laos went around the world. But many other dam projects harm locals and the environment in less visible ways.