Family Dynamics Over the Life Course: Foundations, Turning Points and Outcomes

This open access book examines how families and other social institutions interact to shape outcomes over the life course. It considers how to use research evidence to reduce social disadvantage through translation of evidence to support public policies and programs. The chapters focus on key life course stages such as early child development, adolescence, emerging adulthood, parenting, marriage, relationships and ageing, as well as examining experiences and outcomes for selected social groups such as Indigenous children, migrants and refugees, and gay, lesbian and bisexual groups. The book presents evidence using high-quality and recent data. With a focus on Australia, the volume provides new insights into how context shapes life course pathways and outcomes and a contrast to work that typically focuses on Europe and the United States. It will be of value to anyone interested in understanding how family background and life course pathways influence social disadvantage.

Janeen Baxter is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course in the Institute for Social Science Research at the University of Queensland. Janeen has research interests in families, gender, social disadvantage and the life course and has published widely in these areas. She is known for her leadership in developing life course and longitudinal studies in Australia. Janeen is an elected fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia and a member of several national and international advisory committees.

Jack Lam is a Senior Research Fellow in the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course and the Institute for Social Science Research at The University of Queensland. He is a mixed-methods sociologist and conducts research in families, health and ageing. Much of his research focuses on understanding variations in health and wellbeing among older adults and couples. He is particularly interested in understanding how social inequalities may exist and compound as individuals age, and how institutions may act to reduce such inequalities. In addition to traditional academic research, he is actively engaged in research with government departments and third-sector organisations.

Jenny Povey is an Associate Investigator in the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course, a Senior Research Fellow in Social Methods and a Research Group Leader in the Institute for Social Science Research at The University of Queensland. Jenny has a background in psychology and her research focuses on understanding social and educational disadvantage to achieve impact on policy and practice. Her methodological expertise is in mixed methods research using administrative data together with survey and qualitative data.

Rennie Lee is a Senior Research Fellow in the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course and the Institute for Social Science Research at The University of Queensland. She is a sociologist with interests in international migration, immigrant integration, and racial and ethnic inequality across different country contexts. Her current research focuses on outcomes of immigrant children in the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom, immigrant women in the United States and Australia, and racial and ethnic inequality in Australian workplaces.

Stephen Zubrick is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Western Australia and a Senior Advisor and former head of the Brain and Behaviour Focus Area at the Telethon Kids Institute in Perth, Western Australia. From 2014-2020 he was the Deputy Director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course. He is an elected Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Medical and Health Sciences. He specializes in creating and executing large-scale state and national cross-sectional and longitudinal studies of child and family development.