http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/justine-davies/ Justine Davies is a finance writer, blogger and author. With over ten years experience as a financial planner she writes a weekly finance column for the News Ltd papers and is the author of ‘How to Afford a Baby’ and ‘How to Afford a Husband’, both published by ABC Books. Her most recent book is ‘An Inconceivable Notion’, published by Finch. She’s also the money expert for Women’s Health magazine, Practical Parenting magazine and Body+Soul, and writes a twice-weekly finance blog for news.com.au. You can visit Justine’s blog at http://www.childless.com.au and follow her on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/Childless en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/are-healthy-people-getting-ripped-off-by-health-insurance/ On April 1, health insurance premiums rose across the board by an average of 5.56 per cent. The increase happens every year, while the percentage that premiums increase by differs. This year’s increase, according to research by iSelect, equates to around five million baskets of groceries or eight million tanks of petrol. It would also be enough to buy groceries for 100,000 families for a year. In individual dollar terms it works out to an average annual increase in premiums of $190 per family. So last week I did a number of radio interviews, talking about the increase and suggesting ways that consumers can try to reduce their personal cost while making sure that they have appropriate cover. And one question that I was asked (fortunately off-air, because it took me aback a little) was whether I thought it was fair that everyone – regardless of size or health – paid the same premium. It’s a version of a question that I’ve been asked a number of times: Should health insurance should be medically underwritten. In other words, should the overweight, underweight, smokers and otherwise-unhealthy among us be paying more for their health insurance? The crux of the reasoning, of course, being that the healthy consumers in the population are paying more than their fair share of premiums. And that’s not fair, right? feedback@thepunch.com.au (Justine Davies) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/are-healthy-people-getting-ripped-off-by-health-insurance/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/are-healthy-people-getting-ripped-off-by-health-insurance/#item5587 Thu, 07 Apr 2011 19:35:27 +0000 Justine Davies | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/what-are-you-doing-with-all-those-unwanted-gifts/ Deck the halls and fill the cupboards; despite the pre-Yuletide complaints from some shops Christmas is invariably a multi-billion dollar smorgasboard of retail excess. The question, though, is what to do with all that stuff once you’ve unwrapped it? Because it’s not like we truly need a lot of it. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Justine Davies) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/what-are-you-doing-with-all-those-unwanted-gifts/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/what-are-you-doing-with-all-those-unwanted-gifts/#item4756 Sun, 26 Dec 2010 19:55:25 +0000 Justine Davies | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/iIn-defence-of-parenting/ Given that my previous post was celebrating the joys of (benignly) neglecting my children, it may seem incongruous that I’m now rushing to defend of the exhilaration of parenting in all its chaotic splendour. But I’ve been saddened by the number of recent articles that have sought to somehow diminish or trivialise the overall happiness that having children brings. With the exception of Josie Gagliano’s lovely post the other day, there have been a slew of parentally-negative pieces, ranging from this article in the British Psychological Society journal, to The Atlantic’s: ‘Selfish Reasons Not to Have More Kids’  followed by the New York Mag’s ‘All Joy and No Fun’, and then through to ‘Why Non-Parents are Happier than Parents’ in the US News. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Justine Davies) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/iIn-defence-of-parenting/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/iIn-defence-of-parenting/#item3619 Thu, 22 Jul 2010 19:50:53 +0000 Justine Davies | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/can-children-thrive-on-benign-neglect/ Are you a helicopter parent? An over-scheduler? Or do you give your kids a healthy dose of neglect? Benign neglect that is, nothing more serious. But two things inspired me to neglect my kids during these school-holidays-just-finished, and as a result I reckon we had one of the best breaks ever.  The first was a kids’ book, Mosquito Advertising, by Kate Hunter. It’s an adventure book, along the lines of a modern-day Famous Five. It’s great, but what I really like about it is that when the characters aren’t devising advertising schemes, saving companies and foiling $4 million thefts, they’re sitting around watching Play School (because the host is hot), climbing trees and eating Milo from a tin. And their parents basically leave them alone to get on with it. Fiction, yes. Idealised world, maybe. But surely something to aspire to. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Justine Davies) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/can-children-thrive-on-benign-neglect/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/can-children-thrive-on-benign-neglect/#item3528 Mon, 12 Jul 2010 19:55:02 +0000 Justine Davies | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/is-having-children-out-of-wedlock-really-that-bad/ A few days ago, in the Sydney Morning Herald social commentator Bettina Arndt fretted about the potential for Julia Gillard’s lifestyle choices – namely, not getting married - to “influence other women into making big mistakes about their lives.” The crux of her angst seems to be that Julia’s defacto arrangement may influence more and more women to do the same instead of walking down the aisle, and in doing so they may end up “childless and partnerless as they hit 40.” Now, putting aside the fact that I can’t personally imagine making any of my major life choices based on what the Prime Minister of the day was or wasn’t doing (after all, I’ve never been tempted to get a comb-over, attend church or get a divorce just because previous PMs have) I think Bettina’s worrying a bit unnecessarily – plenty of kids are born out of wedlock. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Justine Davies) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/is-having-children-out-of-wedlock-really-that-bad/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/is-having-children-out-of-wedlock-really-that-bad/#item3465 Fri, 02 Jul 2010 20:00:58 +0000 Justine Davies | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/counterpunch-practical-ways-to-raise-womens-wages/ Union secretary Sally McManus urged women to do starjumps, take a nap, phone their mother and undertake various other activities to show their employers and fellow sisters and brothers that they really are serious about wanting equal pay. The thing is though, we’ve had equal pay for years! Yes, women on average tend to earn 18% (almost a million dollars) less than men over the course of their lifetime. That 18% figure comes from an AMP.NATSEM report done a couple of years ago. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Justine Davies) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/counterpunch-practical-ways-to-raise-womens-wages/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/counterpunch-practical-ways-to-raise-womens-wages/#item3282 Thu, 10 Jun 2010 01:10:50 +0000 Justine Davies | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/what-not-to-say-to-your-childless-friends/ According to the Australia Bureau of Statistics – and despite Kevin Rudd’s almost hysterical wooing of working families - about a quarter of women in their reproductive years are likely to never have children. Some of them will choose not to have children, but many will have that choice made for them by circumstance. I asked eighteen men and women who are involuntarily childless about the impact that this has had on their careers, lifestyles and relationships with family and friends. Now chances are that – whether you’re aware of it or not – you know a number of people who are childless not by choice. And unless they are a very, very close friend, these are a few of the things not to say to them … feedback@thepunch.com.au (Justine Davies) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/what-not-to-say-to-your-childless-friends/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/what-not-to-say-to-your-childless-friends/#item3202 Mon, 31 May 2010 19:40:42 +0000 Justine Davies | Author bios | The Punch