One in Four Australian Kids Threatened by Poverty

According to a new report just out from the Australian Council of Social Service (Acoss), more than one in every four kids in Australia is threatened by poverty. Currently, 25.7 percent of children under the age of 15 were living on less than 60 percent of the median disposable household income in Australia, while 17.7 percent were below 50 percent of that measure.

Anyone below the 50 percent poverty line is considered poor in many countries around the world, even though many developed economies have resorted to regarding someone who lives on less than 60 percent of median income as poor.

Acoss chief executive Cassandra Goldie said that poverty in Australia was “consistently high” despite it being a wealthy country. Goldie told The Guardian that unaffordable housing was doing its part by “locking people in poverty”.

In absolute numbers, the report found that 3.2 million Australians lived under the 50 percent line in 2017/18 and were getting by on less than AUS$457 a week. According to figures by the OECD, 12.1 percent of Australians were living below the 50 percent poverty line, more than the OECD average of 11.8 percent but fewer than in the U.S. (17.8 percent), Mexico (16.6 percent) or Spain (15.5 percent).