This research report investigates whether children in regional areas experience a “tyranny of distance” or a “tyranny of disadvantage”.
In other words, are the gaps in children’s development in regional areas compared to children living in the major cities explained by their distance from the major cities (remoteness), or is it because many regional areas are disadvantaged compared to the cities?
The analyses make use of data from Growing up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) to report on differences in family demographic and economic characteristics, parent wellbeing and parenting style, family social capital and access to services, and children’s educational activities, and to relate those differences to how children are developing. The study includes children aged from 0-1 up to 8-9 years old.