Summary Report - pdf - Department of Families, Housing ...

Income and financeThe Footprints in Time study collects a range of dataon the income and financial situation of the families inwhich the study children live. The set of questions askedvaries across waves. However, the information on sourcesof income of both the primary carer and their partner(if applicable) and on whether the family is affected byincome management arrangements is collected in allwaves conducted and planned to date (waves 1 to 5).Wave 3 also saw the introduction of a suite of questionson financial stress, which will continue to be asked infuture waves of the study, as well as a question on whetherthe primary carer has seen a financial counsellor in thepast 12 months. Questions on the income earned werenot asked in wave 3. However the primary carers wereasked to describe their family’s money situation in termsof whether they made savings on a regular basis or wererunning out of money before payday.IncomeAll primary carers who were employed at the time of thewave 3 interview were asked whether their workplacehad parental leave entitlements. While in just under20 per cent of cases parental leave was not available,about three-quarters (76.0 per cent) of employed primarycarers indicated they would be eligible for some form ofparental leave if they had another child, and 4.3 per centindicated that the leave was available but they would notqualify for it. More than 60 per cent of employed primarycarers indicated that they would be eligible for paidparental leave (Table 30).Table 30: Eligibility for parental leave, per centPercentage of primary carers employedat the time of wave 3 interview 32.3Of those employed, eligibility for parentalleave if having another child:n=449Yes, paid 53.1Yes, unpaid 12.3Yes, paid and unpaid 10.6No, leave not available 19.7No, leave available but primarycarer does not qualify4.3In wave 3, about half of all primary carer respondentsreported receiving wages or a salary (Table 31); theproportion of primary carers who were receiving incomefrom this source has increased since wave 2, possiblydue to the study children growing up. More than threequartersof primary carers reported that some of theirincome came from a government pension, benefit orallowance. Child support and Community EnterpriseAustralia (CEA) or Community Development EmploymentProject (CDEP) payments were less prevalent than otherincome sources, at 6 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively.Only two primary carers indicated that they werereceiving no income.Table 31: All sources of income, percentage ofprimary carers (and partners)Source of income Wave 1 Wave 2 Wave 3Wages or salary 42.1 42.2 49.2Any Governmentpension or benefitor allowance69.4 72.7 78.8CEA or CDEP payments 5.9 4.3 4.8Child support ormaintenance3.7 2.3 6.1Other 0.3 0.8 0.9Native title payment/royalties from land*-- -- 0.2No income 0.0 0.2 0.1*Native title payment/royalties from land was introduced as anincome option in wave 3.42 Footprints in Time: The Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children | Key Summary Report from Wave 3