Australia Yearbook - 2001

388 Year Book Australia 2001
Australia ranks 15th of the 23 ‘rich’ countries
listed, with 12.6% of its children living in
households with incomes below 50% of the
national median. Sweden had the least (2.6%),
and countries with higher levels than Australia
included Poland, Canada, UK and USA. Many
European countries had lower relative poverty
rates than Australia (graph C6.23).
Of enormous importance to child health is the
marked increase in the number of low-income
families dependent on benefits because of
unemployment or sole parenthood and of the
increasing numbers of children in relative
poverty.
Many more Indigenous families are living in
relative poverty than non-Indigenous families
(table C6.24), and some are living in real
deprivation. The overall poverty rate among
Indigenous families is almost three times that
among non-Indigenous families; half of all
Indigenous children were living in poverty in
1986 and the same pattern is seen for both
groups, i.e. increased risk of poverty with sole
parents and unemployed parents.
At the end of the 20th century, these social
changes in families, as well as those
mentioned above, have implications for
social security and child health (Cass 1986).
Economic and social attitudes have driven
the decrease in size of Australian families,
and the increases in sole parent families and
in the workforce participation rate of women
with children.
Future directions for reform include family
income support, redistributing income to all
families with children to improve and
maintain their position. Australia needs to
reassess the value which it places on
children, and focus on the concept of shared
parental and community obligation
(Clinton 1996). Those making policy about
family income support need to recognise the
increased costs which parents bear,
particularly those with young or disabled
children, those with large families, and those
who are sole parents and/or who are on low
incomes (Cass 1986).
C6.24 POVERTY, SEVERE POVERTY AND NEAR POVERTY, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal income units
with children—1986
Severe poverty (income below
80% poverty line)
Aboriginal Non-Aboriginal
Poverty (income below
100% poverty line)
Aboriginal Non-Aboriginal
Near poverty (income below
120% poverty line)
Aboriginal Non-Aboriginal
Income Unit
%
%
%
%
%
%
Couples with
1 child 6.8 2.4 12.2 3.6 33.8 13.6
2 children 5.2 1.9 27.3 8.0 44.2 12.8
3 children 19.6 2.4 50.0 14.2 67.4 33.8
4 or more children 30.8 16.7 48.7 25.1 71.8 47.6
Sole parents with
1 child 34.3 14.2 46.3 25.8 77.6 58.1
2 children 15.9 13.5 77.3 51.0 95.5 73.5
3 or more children 34.6 40.8 92.3 82.1 96.2 86.2
All families with
children 18.5 5.8 43.2 15.0 63.5 28.2
Percentage of children 20.4 7.0 49.9 18.0 67.9 31.5
Source: Ross and Whiteford 1992.