The percentage of Australians taking up Private Health Insurance (PHI) was in decline following the introduction of Medicare in 1984 (PHIAC). To arrest this decline the Australian Government introduced a suite of policies, between 1997 and 2000, to create incentives for Australians to purchase...

This paper investigates the role of family formation in particular the effect of children - actual and desired - on the purchase of private health insurance. A unique panel data set of young Australian women (under 30 years old) from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health [ALSWH] is...