POVERTY
CHILDREN
IN
High Risk People
High risk Groups
Children in Sole Parent Families
As mentioned in the previous page, children in sole parent families reach the highest risk of poverty, amounted 39% of all poverty population. It is roughly three times higher than those in couple families (13%), based on 50% threshold poverty line (ACOSS 2018).
According to the ACOSS (2018), factors driving to such a high poverty rate of children in sole parent families encompass:
- Reliance on sole parental income,
- the high unemployment level of sole parents (single parents have multiple responsibilities taken among child care and job options), and
- the insufficient amount of social security payments for sole parent families (especially for those have children more than 8 years old and must rely heavily on the Newstart Allowance).
Income support for many sole parents is lower than it would have been in the absence of policy changes introduced since 2006 (ACOSS 2018, p. 40).
Figure 3: Rate of poverty among children up to 15 years (% of children) (ACOSS 2018, p. 40)
Figure 4: Profile of poverty by income support payment received by household reference person (% of people in poverty) - 50% of median income poverty line (ACOSS 2018, p. 49)
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children
Another particular group is disproportionately influenced, with Aboriginal children in Australia (ACOSS, 2016; Duncanson et al., 2017). Around 40% of the indigenous population is aged under 15 years old and those children especially vulnerable to poverty than any other groups in Australia.
Main causes that contributed to indigenous child poverty is because their parents are dependent on welfare and have a higher risk of unemployment (Twomey and De Lacey 1986).
Aboriginal people are of approximately 3% of the Australian population, almost half of those receiving welfare from government and other organisations. Low employment rates among Aboriginal people contribute to their high poverty rates, since they have lower levels of education, therefore, lower income.
Indigenous sole parent families generally have a larger number of children, are less likely to live in major urban areas; are more reliant on public housing and more likely to have inadequate housing; are younger and more likely to be never married; have lower levels of education and employment and lower income.
Indigenous children have high rates of illness, greater risk of injuries resulting from accidents, child abuse or neglect, higher risk of asthma and lower developmental achievement. (Parliament of Australia (APH) 2019, ch. 13).
Figure 5: Australia's welfare 2017 (AIHW 2017)
Figure 6: Poverty rate and gaps among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people by region, in 2016 (ACOSS 2018, p. 65)
