The Wives of Disability Support Pensioners and Paid Work

Abstract

The Australian social security system has been largely founded on a single male breadwinner model. This is particularly clear in the case of the eligibility and entitlement rules for the Wife Pension which is currently paid to women whose partners are receiving a Disability Support Pension. The employment patterns of the wives, however, can affect the living standards of these couples. Against this background, in 1993 the Department of Social Security commissioned the Social Policy Research Centre to conduct a study into the labour market circumstances of the wives of Disability Support Pension recipients. A key goal of the study was to investigate the factors which affect the labour market decisions made by these women. The survey on which this publication is based was undertaken by experienced interviewers from the Centre in late 1993. The labour force histories and the attitudes of the women themselves form the main part of the report.