SOCIOECONOMIC DIFFERENTIALS OF THE AGED ON QUEENSLAND’S GOLD COAST: WHY EDUCATION MATTERS Nerina Vecchio and Ross Guest School of Accounting and Finance Faculty of Commerce and Management Griffith University Gold Coast Campus PMB 50 Gold Coast Mail Centre Queensland 9726 Australia email:
[email protected] Sukhan Jackson School of Economics The University of Queensland Brisbane Qld 4072 email:
[email protected] Discussion Paper No. 291 ISSN 1033-4661 © Vecchio, Guest and Jackson 2001 This discussion paper representations work-in-progress and should not be quoted or reproduced in whole or in part without the written consent of the author. SOCIOECONOMIC DIFFERENTIALS OF THE AGED ON QUEENSLAND’S GOLD COAST: WHY EDUCATION MATTERS Nerina Vecchio, Sukhan Jackson and Ross Guest ∗ This is a socioeconomic study of Gold Coast aged residents to explore their access to private resources (wealth, health and social network) by focusing on individual characteristics (gender and education). The analysis tests the hypothesis that socioeconomic differentials exist between men and women aged 65 and over, by conducting a household survey of 401 residents in 1999. Issues specific to Queensland's Gold Coast (e.g. length of residence and accommodation type) were also investigated. The analyses revealed that when segregated into single-person and couple households, more single women were economically disadvantaged than single men, but more single men were found to be socially disadvantaged than single women. Education was significant in explaining socioeconomic differentials in both household types and explained some of the gender differences in single- person households. Key Terms: aged, gender, education, Gold Coast, income, health, housing, Queensland, socioeconomic, social network.