Seeking the Principles of Power and Danger

I have a new paper with  Ang Li  ( reseachgate here ) just published in  Preventive Medicine  on the impact of  No Jab, No Pay   and  No Jab, No Play  on vaccine coverage rates. We found that these policies, which removed non-medical exemptions from government benefits and childcare enrolments, were occasioned by an increase in vaccination coverage across states between 2-4% for one-year olds, 1-1.5% for two-year olds, and 1-3.5% for five-year-olds. We also found that the effect of the policy differed significantly depending on characteristics of the area. Areas that were characterised by either: lower socio-economic status, lower median income, more Family Tax Benefit recipients, or higher pre-intervention coverage had greater responsiveness to the policy changes. Variation in response to the policy changes across areas suggest the effect was largely led by lower-socioeconomic status parents who were nudged towards full vaccination, ...

I have a new paper with  Ang Li  ( reseachgate here ) just published in  Annals of Epidemiology   looking at the effects of graduating during economic downturns on mental health . We found that graduating during a time of increased unemployment is not good for either short-term mental health or long-term mental health. The scarring effect is particularly pronounced for men, people who don't receive government payments, and people with only vocational or secondary qualification. People with higher education seem to do better and graduating during downturns had less of a lasting effect. Title : Effects of graduating during economic downturns on mental health  Abstract Purpose This study examined the effects of economic downturns at the time of graduation on short-term and long-term mental health of graduates. Methods Using a large longitudinal dataset whose respondents graduated from their highest level of education between 2001 and 2018 in Australia, the study in...