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Summary of other findings
The following is a list of analyses started for the Benefits of Educational Attainment Project and the reasons they were discontinued. All analyses were performed against a highest education attained variable (see Introduction).
| Topic | Data source and variable(s) | Research Question | Conclusions | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caring | MADIP 2016; ssri_ben_car_2016 – Receiver of the Carer Payment in the previous year | Does likelihood of receiving Carer Payment vary by highest educational attainment? | Descriptive trends indicate lower Highest Education Attainment Person (HEAP) is related to higher rates of claiming carer benefit.
| Caring benefits are means tested, and we might be assessing income more than likelihood to care. |
MADIP 2016; census_2016_uncarep – Provided unpaid assistance to a person with a disability in the previous two weeks | Does unpaid assistance to person with disability vary with highest educational attainment? | Nil trend found between disability carers and HEAP using Census data. | No trend. | |
MADIP 2016; census_2016_chcarep – Provided unpaid child care in the previous two weeks | Does provision of unpaid child care vary with highest educational attainment? | Only weak positive trend found between unpaid childcare and higher HEAPs. | Weak trend. | |
MADIP 2016; census_2016_domp – Hours of domestic work undertaken in the previous week | Does number of unpaid domestic work hours vary with highest educational attainment? | Hours show trend between unpaid childcare and higher HEAP. | Unable to disentangle caring hours vs. other unpaid hours (e.g. chores) in this analysis. | |
Disability Ageing Carers 2015; CARER09 – Carer status | Are people with a higher educational attainment more likely to be carers after controlling for demographics? | Negative trend between HEAP and caring. | Small sample issues, not suitable for matching, therefore inconclusive. | |
General Social Survey, 2014 expanded CURF; UNPAIDHP – Spent time in the last four weeks providing unpaid help as a carer | Does time spent in last four weeks providing unpaid help as a carer vary by highest educational attainment? | No apparent trend in proportions. Tested using earlier matching method, no significant results found. | ||
| Social security benefits/debt | MADIP 2016; madip_ssri_link_flag – Receives social security benefits | Does being linked to Social Services data (i.e. receiving government pensions or allowances) vary by highest educational attainment? | Indicates being linked to SSRI is inversely related to level of HEAP. | |
General Social Survey, 2014 expanded CURF; CONDTVAL – Value of consumer debt | Does the amount of consumer debt vary by highest educational attainment? | No apparent trend in proportions. | ||
General Social Survey, 2014 expanded CURF; TIMEGORC – Time spent on government support as main source of income in the last two years | Does time spent on government support as main source of income in the last 2 years vary by highest educational attainment? | Weak negative trend of HEAP and being on government support (lower HEAP=more time on government support). | ||
| Volunteering | General Social Survey, 2014 expanded CURF; NOTVOL – All reasons for not volunteering in the last 12 months | Do reasons for not volunteering differ by highest educational attainment? | Early matching results were inconclusive; unable to match. | Opted to use MADIP variables instead. |
General Social Survey, 2014 expanded CURF; VOLSTART – How long ago was the first voluntary work involvement for any organisation | Does longevity of volunteering vary by highest educational attainment? | Higher HEAP associated with time spent as a volunteer. | Opted for MADIP variables instead. | |
General Social Survey, 2014 expanded CURF; REASVOL – Reasons for being a volunteer | Do reasons for volunteering vary by highest educational attainment? | Personal satisfaction seemed a more common reason for higher HEAP categories, not significant at all levels after matching. | Opted for MADIP variables instead. | |
General Social Survey, 2014 expanded CURF; NOTVOLA – ‘Not interested’ given as reason for not volunteering | Does not interested as a reason to not volunteer vary by highest educational attainment? | Frequencies show not interested as more common reason to not volunteer in lower HEAPs. Early matching results were inconclusive. | Opted for MADIP variables instead. | |
General Social Survey, 2014 expanded CURF; NOTVOLH – ‘Health’ given as reason for not volunteering | Does 'health' as a reason to not volunteer vary by highest educational attainment? | Frequencies show health as more common reason to not volunteer in lower HEAP categories. Early matching results were inconclusive. | Opted for MADIP variables instead. | |
General Social Survey, 2014 expanded CURF; VOLHRXWC – Total hours worked in the last 12 months for all organisations, excluding for study or employment reasons | Do total hours volunteered (excluding for study or employment reasons) in the last 12 months vary by highest educational attainment? | Non-significant result. | Opted for MADIP variables instead. | |
General Social Survey, 2014 expanded CURF; VOLHRXWC– Total hours worked in the last 12 months for all organisations, excluding for study or employment reasons | Do hours of volunteering vary by highest educational attainment by full time status/part time (FT/PT) paid work status? | Unable to find significant results between HEAP and volunteer hours, breaking down by FT/PT status. | ||
General Social Survey, 2014 expanded CURF; USHOUC – Hours worked in all jobs | Is there a relationship between hours worked in all jobs and highest educational attainment for volunteers? | Significant relationship between hours worked and HEAP. | Significant result found, but ultimately did not report on specific sub-research question. | |
General Social Survey, 2014 expanded CURF; VOLHRXWC– Total hours worked in the last 12 months for all organisations, excluding for study or employment reasons | Is there a relationship between volunteers’ hours (excluding for study or employment reasons) and work hours? | Significant trend found, volunteer hours negatively correlates to work hours. | Significant result found, but ultimately did not report on specific sub-research question. | |
General Social Survey, 2014 expanded CURF; VOLHRXWC– Total hours worked in the last 12 months for all organisations, excluding for study or employment reasons | Do older Australians (non-working) hours volunteered vary by highest educational attainment? | Unable to find significant results between HEAP categories and volunteer hours, filtering to older non-working Australians. | Non-significant results. | |
General Social Survey, 2014 expanded CURF; REASVOLB – ‘Personal satisfaction’ given as reason for volunteering | Does 'personal satisfaction' as a reason to volunteer vary by highest educational attainment? | Frequencies show personal satisfaction more popular reason to volunteer in higher HEAPs. Early matching methods showed significant results. | A significant result found with old matching but not for all levels. Opted for MADIP variables instead. | |
| Social | General Social Survey, 2014 expanded CURF; OLIFESAT – Overall life satisfaction | Does overall life satisfaction vary by highest educational attainment? | Basic analysis comparing proportions. No trend, everyone around the same life satisfaction when comparing descriptives | No trend. |
General Social Survey, 2014 expanded CURF; EDUCRTRC – Whether has education restriction | Does having an education restriction vary by highest educational attainment? | No clear-cut trend here in weighted descriptives. | ||
General Social Survey, 2014 expanded CURF; EMPRSTRC – Whether has employment restriction | Does having an employment restriction vary by highest educational attainment? | No clear-cut trend here in weighted descriptives. No apparent trend in proportions. Noticeably some HEAP categories spike for certain stressors, e.g. bullying reported by postgraduates. However, these spikes do not consistently trend upwards/downwards with HEAP. | ||
General Social Survey, 2014 expanded CURF; TYSTRES – Types of personal stressors experienced in the last 12 months | Does the type(s) of personal stressors experienced in last 12 months vary by highest educational attainment? | |||
Survey of Sports and Recreation; SPORTSPAR – Whether has participated in sport/physical recreation in the last 12 months | Does participation in sports/physical recreation in the last 12 months vary by highest educational attainment? | Descriptive trend of higher participation in sports with higher HEAP. | No trend. No significance found. | |
Survey of Sports and Recreation; SPPLNOC – Number of sports/physical recreation activities participated in as a player in the last 12 months | Does the number of sports/physical activities as a player in the last 12 months vary by highest educational attainment? | Descriptive trend of greater mean number of sports with higher HEAP | Unable to filter by education attainment. | |
Health
| National Health Survey, 2011-12 expanded CURF; SF12Q2 – Self assessed health survey | Does self-assessed health status vary by highest educational attainment? | Higher self-reported health at higher HEAP categories. Likert scale (good, very good etc.). | Opted to discontinue and focus on other Health variables. Notably this analysis was before the BEAP filters of 30-64 years of age and not currently studying were in place. |
National Health Survey, 2011-12 expanded CURF; BPCAT – Blood pressure | Does blood pressure vary by highest educational attainment? | Slight trend to higher blood pressure for lower HEAPs. | ||
National Health Survey, 2011-12 expanded CURF; BMISC – Body Mass Index | Does Body Mass Index vary by highest educational attainment? | Possible negative trend of HEAP and BMI. Higher HEAP categories, lower BMI. | ||
National Health Survey, 2011-12 expanded CURF; GLASSES – Wears glasses | Does incidence of wearing glasses vary by highest educational attainment? | Clear positive trend of wearing glasses and higher HEAP. | ||
National Health Survey, 2011-12 expanded CURF; HEALQ01 – Whether they have private health cover | Does having private health cover vary by highest educational attainment? | Higher HEAP related to higher rates of private cover. | ||
National Health Survey, 2011-12 expanded CURF; HIGOVEC – Whether they have a government health concession card | Does possession of a government health concession card vary by highest educational attainment? | Trend lower HEAP more likely to be on government health card. To be expected after private health analysis. Concern this finding is biased by high proportions of older Australians who are eligible for government card. This cohort has less schooling and post-schooling in general. | ||
National Health Survey, 2011-12 expanded CURF; HEALFGP – Time since last consulted GP for own health | Does the period of time since last consulting a GP for own health vary by highest educational attainment? | No apparent trend. | ||
National Health Survey, 2011-12 expanded CURF; HEALFLI – Whether they have discussed lifestyle issues with a GP in the last 12 months | Does discussing lifestyle issues with GP in the last 12 months vary by highest educational attainment? | No apparent trend. | ||
National Health Survey, 2011-12 expanded CURF; CNDNUMSP – Number of medical conditions/number of long term medical conditions | Do the number of conditions or number of long-term medical conditions vary by highest educational attainment? | No apparent HEAP trend found. Analysed by mean number of conditions and long-term conditions. | ||
National Health Survey, 2014-15; DIET08 – Usual daily serve of fruit | Does meeting the usual daily serve of fruit eaten vary by highest educational attainment? | Fruit consumption appears slightly related to HEAP positively. | Opted to focus on other health behaviours. | |
National Health Survey, 2014-15; DIET05 – Usual daily serve of vegetables | Does eating the usual daily serve of vegetables eaten vary by highest educational attainment? | Vegetable consumption appears slightly related to HEAP positively. | ||
National Health Survey, 2014-15; Mental_condition_flag – derived from diagnosed mental health condition | Does having a mental condition vary by highest educational attainment? | Trend appears between better mental health, less likely to have condition related to higher HEAP. | Further work needed on analysis. | |
National Health Survey, 2014-15; K10SCORE –Kessler 10 scare (mental health) | Does the Kessler 10 score (mental health) vary by highest educational attainment? | Trend to have a better Kessler score (mental health measure) with higher HEAP. Old matching analysis indicated significant trend. | Further work needed on analysis. | |
Mortality, Enhanced Characteristics, 2011-12 detailed microdata; M_AGEP – Mortality age | Does mortality age (longevity) vary by highest educational attainment? | No strong trend apparent. | Weak trend. Opted to not extensively pursue mortality, as 1 year of data not suitable for our analysis. | |
Mortality, Enhanced Characteristics, 2011-12 detailed microdata; UCOD – Underlying cause of death | Does underlying cause of death vary by highest educational attainment? | No obvious trends in UCOD (first letter substring) by HEAP, most common in BEAP bracket (30 to 64) dies of cancer. | No trend. Opted to not extensively pursue mortality, as 1 year of data not suitable for our analysis. | |
Mortality, Enhanced Characteristics, 2011-12 detailed microdata; Older Australians. UCOD – Underlying cause of death | Does underlying cause of death vary by highest educational attainment for older Australians? | Only trend apparent is respiratory (J) deaths decrease with HEAP at 65+. | Weak trend. Opted to not extensively pursue mortality, as 1 year of data not suitable for our analysis. | |
MADIP 2011; MBS_benefits_paid mbs_services_used Mbs_fees_charged – MBS data | Do Medicare services/benefits/fees charged vary by highest educational attainment? | No significant trend identified in descriptive for HEAP, appears HEAP has little effect on MBS services/fees/benefits. | No trend. Attempted to restrict data to specific demographics (e.g. age brackets) but no trend found. Old analysis, BEAP filters not in place yet. | |
| Cultural participation | Participation in Selected Cultural Activities, Australia, 2013-14; NUMACT – Number of cultural activities participated in the last 12 months | Does the number of cultural activities participated in, in last 12 months vary by highest educational attainment? | Based on mean number of activities, higher educated more likely to participate in more cultural activates | Lack of study status filter on survey. |
Participation in Selected Cultural Activities, Australia, 2013-14; PARTIC – Whether participated in selected cultural activities in the last 12 months | Does participation in selected cultural activities in the last 12 months vary by highest educational attainment? | Significant positive trend cultural participation increases with HEAP. | ||
Participation in Selected Cultural Activities, Australia, 2013-14; BARCULTA – Barriers to undertaking more cultural activities in the last 12 months | Do barriers to undertaking (more) cultural activities in last 12 months vary by highest educational attainment? | Did not want to participate main reason for all HEAPs. Only trend across HEAPs is "no time" as main barrier for higher HEAPs. | ||
Participation in Selected Cultural Activities, Australia, 2013-14; WKSINV – Number of weeks involved in main cultural activity in the last 12 months | Does the number of weeks involved in main cultural activity in last 12 months vary by highest educational attainment? | Based on mean number of weeks involved, higher educated likely to participate for more weeks. | ||
Participation in Selected Cultural Activities, Australia, 2013-14; COMQUAL – Whether completed a qualification in or related to main cultural activity | Is completing a qualification in or related to main cultural activity vary by highest educational attainment? | Fairly apparent trend of higher education trending to have a qualification related to their cultural activity based on proportions. | ||
Participation in Selected Cultural Activities, Australia, 2013-14; CULPAID – Whether paid for participation in main cultural activity | Does paid for participation in main cultural activity vary by highest educational attainment? | Appears some trend between higher HEAP and cultural participation payments. | ||
Survey of Education and Work; CUYREDUB – Detailed type of institution or organisation and enrolment in current year | Do current year employment or study profiles change based on age groups? | No real benefit of analysis apparent, age profiles about what you would expect, younger ages more engaged in study. | ||
Education and Work
| Survey of Education and Work; CLASCED2 – Level of education of studying current year | Does age/education profile of current year of study vary by highest education? | Predictably your current study is generally a level up from your HEAP. | Not aligned with BEAP narrative write ups, analytical request looking at study/work profiles of students including younger ages, so age filter not applicable. No trend. |
Survey of Education and Work; PLASCED2 – Level of education of study in previous year | Does age/education profile of previous year of study vary by highest education? | Predictably your last year of study is generally level down or equal from your HEAP. | ||
Survey of Education and Work; TENURE – Tenure of employment in current job | Does tenure of employment in current job vary by highest educational attainment? | No real trend apparent between HEAP and tenure at work. | ||
Management and Organisational Capabilities of Australian Business, 2015-16; Size – Employment range | Does business size vary by highest education and gender or age of principal manager? | No trend apparent for HEAP by business size for age/gender breakdowns | No trend. No stand out results. | |
Management and Organisational Capabilities of Australian Business, 2015-16; Franchising – Franchising a business | Is franchising a business related to highest education of principal manager? | No trend apparent. | No trend.
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Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, 2011-12 Expanded CURF; Pslevel – Problem solving scale score (derived from PVPSL1-10/10) | Does problem solving scale score vary by highest educational attainment? | Descriptives showed positive trend. Post-matching ANOVA was not significant | ||
Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, 2011-12 Expanded CURF; NUMlevel – Numeracy scale score (derived from PVNUM1-10/10 | Does numeracy scale score vary by highest educational attainment? | Descriptives showed positive trend. Post-matching ANOVA was not significant | Non-significant results after matching. Opted to not continue analysis. | |
Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, 2011-12 Expanded CURF; Litlevel – Literacy scale score (derived from PVNUM1-10/10 | Does literacy scale score 10/10 vary by highest educational attainment? | |||
MADIP 2016; Pit_1516_tot_busns_incm– Total business income reported in 2015-16 tax return. | Does likelihood of reporting business income vary by educational attainment? | Descriptives showed positive trend. | Difficulty deriving appropriate matching covariates and disentangling business income from wages and salary income. Opted to discontinue | |
MADIP 2016; Pit_1516_tot_busns_incm– Total business income reported in 2015-16 tax return. | Does the amount of business income reported vary by educational attainment? | Descriptives showed imperfect positive trend. |