Mental health of single mothers in Australia
Journal of Public Mental Health
ISSN: 1746-5729
Article publication date: 23 May 2023
Issue publication date: 26 June 2023
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine mental health amongst two cohorts of single mothers in Australia before and after major social welfare reforms, which limited single parents’ access to welfare payments to encourage labour market participation.
Design/methodology/approach
The study analyses The Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health, which surveyed 9,145 women born in the 1970s in 2003, and 8,346 women born in the 1990s in 2019.
Findings
Compared with other women of similar age, single mothers reported a higher prevalence of depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicidal thoughts and lower levels of mental health, although the magnitude varied between age groups and cohorts. This difference disappeared after controlling for socio-demographic characteristics. Mental health of single mothers improved relative to that of other women between cohorts (1970s cohort surveyed in 2003, aged 25–30 versus 1990s cohort surveyed 2019, aged 24–30) and within the same 1970s cohort (surveyed 2003 and 2018), all else equal. Single mothers from the 1970s cohort aged 40–45 years and those in the 1990s cohort aged 24–30 years old were more qualified and held better jobs than the 1970s cohort at aged 25–30. Stress-related to money, ability to manage on available income and experiencing domestic violence were negatively associated with mental health across all cohorts and ages. Social support had a strong positive association with mental health.
Originality/value
The study suggests low welfare payment to encourage greater labour market participation is associated with financial distress linked to poor mental health.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The research on which this paper is based was conducted as part of the ALSWH by the University of Queensland and the University of Newcastle. The authors are grateful to the Australian Government Department of Health for funding and to the women who provided the survey data. The views expressed in this paper are the views of the authors and should not be taken to represent the views of the South Australian Centre for Economic Studies or the University of Adelaide. The authors would also like to express our thanks to Professor Deborah Loxton, University of Newcastle and Ms Peta Forder, University of Newcastle, who are Australian Longitudinal Study of Women’s Health collaborators.
Corrigendum: It has come to the attention of the Publisher that the article “Mental health of single mothers in Australia” by Tania Dey and Andreas Cebulla, published in Journal of Public Mental Health, Vol. 22, No. 2, https://doi.org/10.1108/JPMH-12-2022-0124, contained an affiliation error. Andreas Cebulla is affiliated with Australian Industrial Transformation Institute, Flinders University – not Australian Institute of Transformation Institute, Flinders University. This error was introduced during the submission process and has now been corrected.
Citation
Dey, T. and Cebulla, A. (2023), "Mental health of single mothers in Australia", Journal of Public Mental Health, Vol. 22 No. 2, pp. 73-82. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPMH-12-2022-0124
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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