Save the poor in Australia

[fourandsixpants]

http://www.acoss.org.au/policy/poverty/

Poverty

ACOSS has a strong policy focus on poverty and inequality in Australia.

We are issuing a series of poverty and inequality reports, the first of which is the Poverty in Australia 2013 edition.

 

This report found that there are approximately 2,265,000 people, or 12.8% of all people in Australia who are living below the OECD poverty line of 50% of median wage.

The report also found that there were some groups particularly at risk, including: people without paid work, children (especially in sole parent families), and people whose main source of income is social security payments.

The poverty report found that

:

• 2,265,000 people (12.8%) were living below the poverty line
• 575,000 children or 17.3% were living below the poverty line
• 63% of people in unemployed households were below the poverty line
• 25% of people in lone parent households were below the 50% poverty line
• 37% of people in households whose main income was social security were living below the poverty line
• Among people in households where the main income earner received the following payments, the following proportions lived below the poverty line, after taking account of housing costs:
  • Newstart Allowance, 52%
  • Parenting Payment, 45%
  • Disability Support Pension, 42%
  • Carer Payment 24%
  • Age Pension, 14%
• 62% of people below the poverty line came from households with social security as their main source of income, but a sizeable minority (29%) were in households with wages as the main income source. This 29% figure is due to the higher number of wage-earning households overall. It is likely that most of these people live in households where people receive part time earnings only, or are raising children on a low wage
• 14% of women were below the poverty line compared to 12% of men
• 54% of people living in households below the poverty line were female compared to 46% male
• 26% of adults living in households below the 50% poverty line came from a non English-speaking country
• The level of poverty was higher (13.1%) outside capital cities than in capital cities (12.6%)
• The proportion of people in poverty rose by approximately a third of a percentage point from 2003 to 2010 but it is difficult to compare poverty levels over the long term due to changes in the various ABS surveys.

I wonder what the percentage is in 2014?

[village_person]

Why are we giving foreign aid to mendicant countries when we have our own needy in Australia?

[boris1gary · Accepted solution]

Paints, it's going to get worse at an alarming rate, especially if/when PUP rolls over again.

[katydidthat · Accepted solution]

Whatever the percentage ... it's a shame and a disgrace that so many people are living below the poverty line ... and that more people are being added every day.  

[boris1gary · Accepted solution]

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@village_person wrote:

Why are we giving foreign aid to mendicant countries when we have our own needy in Australia?

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wouldn't worry too much about that, foreign aid has been slashed before the budget - didn't mean anything to the people that need it in Australia - the budget intends to take more off our "own". Seems our humanitarianism only applies to war. One of the richest nations on earth, we won't help others and we won't help our "own".

[cherry*135 · Accepted solution]

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@village_person wrote:

Why are we giving foreign aid to mendicant countries when we have our own needy in Australia?

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Australian foreign aid spending is being cut by $7.6 billion over the next five years, in the biggest savings measure in the 2014 budget.

That doesn't mean that amount of 'saved' money will ever find its way to the needy in Australia either.

Just as likely to be spent on a jet fighters or  bomb proof BMW's ordered by Abbott.

The current Govt tells people (including those on low incomes) to tighten their belts.

[village_person]

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@am*3 wrote:

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Australian foreign aid spending is being cut by $7.6 billion over the next five years, in the biggest savings measure in the 2014 budget.

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What did those mendicant countries do before the advent of foreign aid? How did the inhabitants manage before the arrival of the cargo cult mentality?

[cherry*135]

I would rather stick to the topic of this thread... the poor in Australia.

[fourandsixpants]

yes am3, thank you. I would prefer to stick with topic too:) Not that I don't have feelings for overseas poor but we should look after our own poor at home in Australia first.....plus this is the thread topic. Cheers

Now ....what is the definition of 'poor'?.....................

poor

pɔː,pʊə/

adjective

adjective: poor; comparative adjective: poorer; superlative adjective: poorest

1. 1.

   lacking sufficient money to live at a standard considered comfortable or normal in a society.

   "they were too poor to afford a telephone"

   synonyms:

   poverty-stricken, impoverished, necessitous, beggarly, in penury, penurious, impecunious, indigent, needy, needful, in need/want, badly off, in reduced circumstances, in straitened circumstances, destitute, hard up, short of money, on one's beam-ends, unable to make ends meet, underprivileged, deprived, penniless, without a sou, as poor as a church mouse, moneyless;More bankrupt, bust, insolvent, in debt, in the red; on the breadline, without a penny (to one's name); informalbroke, flat broke, cleaned out, strapped for cash, strapped, on one's uppers, without two pennies/(brass) farthings to rub together; informalstony broke, skint, in Queer Street; informalstone broke; rarepauperized, beggared "a poor family"

   antonyms:

   rich, wealthy

   • (of a place) inhabited by people with little money.

     "the world's poorest countries"
2. 2.

   of a low or inferior standard or quality.

   "many people are eating a very poor diet"

   synonyms:

   substandard, below standard, below par, bad, deficient, defective, faulty, imperfect, inferior, mediocre;More

[boris1gary]

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@village_person wrote:

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@am*3 wrote:

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Australian foreign aid spending is being cut by $7.6 billion over the next five years, in the biggest savings measure in the 2014 budget.

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What did those mendicant countries do before the advent of foreign aid? How did the inhabitants manage before the arrival of the cargo cult mentality?

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very offensive language to describe people and countries who are in need of others help, so I won't bother responding to the "question" itself.