Referencesi ACOSS, 2012, Poverty in Australia 2012

ii ACOSS, 2012, op cit

iii Australians for Affordable Housing, 2011a, Housing Costs Through the Roof

iv Australians for Affordable Housing, 2011b Australia’s Broken Housing System

v AAH 2011b, op cit

vi AAH, 2011b, op cit

vii Combat Poverty Agency, 2004, What is Poverty?

viii AIHW, 2013, Specialist Homelessness Services 2012-13

Homelessness and Poverty

Homelessness Australiawww.homelessnessaustralia.org.au

Homelessness Australia

@HomelessnessAus

It is no surprise that poverty is linked to homelessness. 12% of all people and 17% of children in Australia live in povertyi.

What is poverty?

When talking about poverty we often hear about “the pov-erty line”. The poverty line means that those with an income below a certain point do not have the means to meet their essential needs and therefore are in poverty. In Australia, poverty is relative, and people are considered to be “poor” if their living standards are below an overall community stan-dard. Poverty is not just about how much income a person or family has coming in – but also denial of opportunity.

Homelessness and Poverty

Homelessness Australia Jan 2016

12%of Australians

live in poverty...

... And of that 12%one quarter

are children.

How many people live in poverty in Australia?There are 2,265,000 people in Australia living in povertyii and 575,000 children living below the poverty line.

Housing and povertyThe cost of housing has a significant impact on poverty. Housing is the largest single expenditure item in the household budget for low and moderate income earners, with over 720,000 households paying more of 30% of their take home income on housing and more than 460,000 households spending more than 50% of their income on housing. Housing stress affects more than one in ten Australian households and one in four households in the private rental marketiii. In the last five years the cost of housing – both to buy and rent – has increased rapidlyiv increasing the risk of people falling into poverty.

Home ownership, especially amongst older Australians, can provide significant protection against poverty, however increasing house prices are forcing generations out of the housing market. Between 1960 and 1990 house prices were between three to four times the av-erage annual income, now this has more than doubled to between seven and eight times the average incomev. For those who have managed to buy into the housing market, 380,000 people reported expe-riencing significant financial hardship

in the 12 months previous. In addition,

50% of low income home owners with a

mortgage are in housing stressvi.

Homelessness and povertyPoverty is an underlying cause of

homelessness. The circumstances of

poverty that can lead a person to become

homeless include: having little money,

debt, a lack of education, poor mental

and physical health, disability, reliance

on public housing, living in sub-standard

accommodation and social exclusionvii.

Not everyone who approaches specialist

homelessness services is homeless: over

half of people are at risk of homelessness

and are looking for assistance to retain

their housing or to get general help (such

as material aid or brokerage). 47% of

people seeking assistance from specialist

homelessness services did so because of

financial issuesviii.

How can we reduce poverty in Australia?Poverty is everyone’s responsibility!

Governments must be encouraged to implement policies and strategies that reduce social inequality. We must ensure that Australia’s welfare system provides a sufficient income for every citizen.

There also needs to be investment in housing. More than 250,000 Australians are sitting on public housing wait lists, so a sustained ongoing investment by the Government to provide for those not provided for in the housing market is required. Changes are needed in the housing system to reward investment in affordable housing and increase housing supply.

Business, government and communities need to provide people who are in pover-ty with increased opportunities for civic and economic participation and engage-ment through employment, education, training and social inclusion.

Homelessness and Poverty Homelessness and Poverty

What causes poverty?The causes of poverty can be varied, with a number of factors at play.

Work and income plays a significant im-pact in poverty. A large number of people who live in poverty are unemployed but there are a number of Australians who are underemployed (working below their skill level or for less hours than they would like), or in a family where one per-son works who are also living in poverty (called the ‘working poor’).

Structural factors such as unaffordable housing, place-based disadvantage and low education levels can contribute to poverty.

Who is affected by poverty?There are particular groups in Australia who are at higher risk of poverty. Children and older people face the highest risk of poverty, with women more likely to be living below the poverty line than men. Others at high risk of living in poverty include:

� people who are unemployed � single people over 65 � people in households reliant on gov-

ernment payments (including carer and disability support)

� single parent families � single people without children � people from non English speaking

backgrounds