Australian couple.
Photo: DubuqueRotary.org
The survey has found that, while the median disposable income of all Australians, including those on government payments, rose 5.2 per cent over the four years from 2001, the disposable income of elderly couple households rose just 0.7 per cent.
But while the disposable income of elderly couples grew the least, elderly singles remained the poorest household type in the country. Single women older than 65 had a typical income of $13,925, followed by single elderly men at $13,869. This was about half the national median for all Australians: $26,680.
As Parliament resumes today with the Opposition vowing to introduce legislation to increase the single age pension by $30 a week, to $303, the survey shows single elderly people face the highest risk of falling below the poverty line.
Poverty is defined in the study as having a household income - from private sources and the government - of less than 50 per cent of the median household income, adjusted for household size. It includes income only, not assets such as the family home.
On this definition, about half of all elderly singles were found to be living below the poverty line, compared with one in four elderly couples. With no Government assistance, the numbers would be even higher - three out of four for elderly singles and three in five for elderly couples.
"The situation was particularly serious among lone elderly women," the report says.
The Government has criticised the Opposition's attempt to introduce a bill as unconstitutional and said it was ignoring the needs of the 2.2 million Australians on pensions who were not single people on the age pension, including couples, widows, veterans, carers and disabled people.
The Government has said it will not adjust pensions until February at the earliest, when it will receive the findings of a review of the pension system being conducted by the head of the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Jeff Harmer, who is chairing today's forum.
Copyright © 2008. Brisbane Times.
September 15, 2008
AUSTRALIA: Economic boom has left Australia's elderly behind
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BRISBANE (Brisbane Times), September 15, 2008:
By Jessica Irvine
Economics Correspondent
AS PRESSURE mounts on the Federal Government to increase the age pension, a Government-funded study due to be released today shows elderly couples, more than any other group, have missed out on the gains of Australia's long economic boom.
While debate has focused on the plight of single people on the age pension, who have the lowest incomes, the study shows elderly couples are also falling behind.
Elderly couples watched their disposable incomes grow by the smallest amount of any household type over the four years from 2001, the latest report from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey shows.
The results of the study by the Melbourne Institute, which began tracking 19,914 individuals in 2001, will be presented at a forum in Canberra today on the "changing economic fortunes of Australian families in the long boom".
Australian couple.
Photo: DubuqueRotary.org
The survey has found that, while the median disposable income of all Australians, including those on government payments, rose 5.2 per cent over the four years from 2001, the disposable income of elderly couple households rose just 0.7 per cent.
But while the disposable income of elderly couples grew the least, elderly singles remained the poorest household type in the country. Single women older than 65 had a typical income of $13,925, followed by single elderly men at $13,869. This was about half the national median for all Australians: $26,680.
As Parliament resumes today with the Opposition vowing to introduce legislation to increase the single age pension by $30 a week, to $303, the survey shows single elderly people face the highest risk of falling below the poverty line.
Poverty is defined in the study as having a household income - from private sources and the government - of less than 50 per cent of the median household income, adjusted for household size. It includes income only, not assets such as the family home.
On this definition, about half of all elderly singles were found to be living below the poverty line, compared with one in four elderly couples. With no Government assistance, the numbers would be even higher - three out of four for elderly singles and three in five for elderly couples.
"The situation was particularly serious among lone elderly women," the report says.
The Government has criticised the Opposition's attempt to introduce a bill as unconstitutional and said it was ignoring the needs of the 2.2 million Australians on pensions who were not single people on the age pension, including couples, widows, veterans, carers and disabled people.
The Government has said it will not adjust pensions until February at the earliest, when it will receive the findings of a review of the pension system being conducted by the head of the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Jeff Harmer, who is chairing today's forum.
Copyright © 2008. Brisbane Times.
Australian couple.
Photo: DubuqueRotary.org
The survey has found that, while the median disposable income of all Australians, including those on government payments, rose 5.2 per cent over the four years from 2001, the disposable income of elderly couple households rose just 0.7 per cent.
But while the disposable income of elderly couples grew the least, elderly singles remained the poorest household type in the country. Single women older than 65 had a typical income of $13,925, followed by single elderly men at $13,869. This was about half the national median for all Australians: $26,680.
As Parliament resumes today with the Opposition vowing to introduce legislation to increase the single age pension by $30 a week, to $303, the survey shows single elderly people face the highest risk of falling below the poverty line.
Poverty is defined in the study as having a household income - from private sources and the government - of less than 50 per cent of the median household income, adjusted for household size. It includes income only, not assets such as the family home.
On this definition, about half of all elderly singles were found to be living below the poverty line, compared with one in four elderly couples. With no Government assistance, the numbers would be even higher - three out of four for elderly singles and three in five for elderly couples.
"The situation was particularly serious among lone elderly women," the report says.
The Government has criticised the Opposition's attempt to introduce a bill as unconstitutional and said it was ignoring the needs of the 2.2 million Australians on pensions who were not single people on the age pension, including couples, widows, veterans, carers and disabled people.
The Government has said it will not adjust pensions until February at the earliest, when it will receive the findings of a review of the pension system being conducted by the head of the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Jeff Harmer, who is chairing today's forum.
Copyright © 2008. Brisbane Times.
