Table of Contents

Home economics: An introduction

Part One: Family Finances

1. The changing workforce

2. Women at work

3. The cost of kids

4. The value of higher education

5. The Great Australian Home

6. Saving, debt and guilt

Part Two: The Outside World

7. Paying for health care

8. Taxes-love 'em or hate 'em

9. Crime and drugs

10. Our ageing population

Part Three: Everyday Life

11. Housework has a value

12. The pleasures of consumerism

13. The shortage of time

14. The attack on leisure

15. Happiness

Last word: My take-home message

Bibliography

About the Author

Ross Gittins is the Economics Editor of the Sydney Morning Herald and an economic columnist for The Age. Before joining the SMH, Ross worked as an auditor with the national chartered accounting firm, Touche Ross + Co. In 1993 he won the Citibank Pan Asia award for excellence in financial journalism. Ross has been a Nuffield press fellow at Wolfson College, Cambridge, and a journalist-in-residence at the Department of Economics at the University of Melbourne. Ross is frequently called upon to comment on the economic issues of the day and has written and contributed to various books and periodicals. His most recent book was Gittins' Guide to Economics (Allen and Unwin, 2006).