The Impact of Crime Victimisation on Individual Well-Being: Evidence from Australia

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of being a victim of violent or property crime on labour market outcomes and general well-being using longitudinal data from the nationally representative Household Income and Labour Dynamics of Australia (HILDA) survey. We estimate fixed effects regression models that examine changes in outcomes for individuals before/after victimisation relative to changes in outcomes over time for non-victims. Our results highlight considerable heterogeneity in the causal impact of crime victimisation: (I) the impacts of violent crime victimisation are stronger and more wide-ranging than those of property crime victimisation; (2) male victims of violem crime experience poorer employment prospects following victimisation; (3) older victims of violent crime report a deterioration in mental health for two years after the event; (4) women face reduced, persistent prospects of marriage/co-habitation following crime victimization; and (5) there is strong evidence of a negative impact of victimisation on life satisfaction measures but these effects do not persist.