Poverty and children in Tasmania
About
this presentation
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This presentation is based on data collected from a range of sources including:
Australian Council of Social Services – Poverty in Australia 2014
ABS 6523, Household Income and Wealth, Australia, 2013-14.
ABS 6523, Household Income and Wealth, 2013-14.
ABS 6523, Household Income and Wealth, 2013-14.
ABS 6523, Household Income and Income Distribution, 2011-12.
ACOSS 2014.
State of Launceston’s Children 2012: Kids Come First.
State of Launceston’s Children 2012: ABS Tasmanian Regional Profile.
Tasmanian Population Health Survey, 2013.
ABS 6530, Household Expenditure Survey, 2009-10.
ABS, Socio-Economic Indices for Areas, 2011.
Anglicare Rental Affordability Snapshot 2015.
Report on Government Services 2015: Housing, Sector Overview, 2015, Table
GA.5.
Report on Government Services 2015: Health, Sector Overview, Table E.5
PHIDU 2015, Monitoring Inequality in Australia: Tasmania.
PHIDU 2012: 2011 Census.
Department of Employment, Small Area Labour Markets, LGA data tables, March
2015.
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What is Poverty?
Poverty can be defined as the pronounced deprivation of well-being –
or the inability to satisfy your basic needs.
Poverty is one measure of financial hardship. Other measures are
financial stress and deprivation.
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Financial stress is people’s perception of their financial health. This is
things like being unable to pay your gas, electricity or telephone bill.
Deprivation is people’s actual living standards – do they have access to
the basic essential items such as a secure home?
These include things like:
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Warm clothes and bedding
Medical treatment and being able to buy medicine
A safe and secure home
Children can participate in school and in school activities
A separate bed for each child
Regular social contact with other people
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How do we measure poverty?
One simple way to measure poverty is the number of people living
below the poverty line. The work of ACOSS nationally uses the 50% of
the median household income (i.e half the middle income for all
households) to identify people in poverty.
This poverty line (which is also used by the OECD) equates to a
disposable income of less than $400 per week for a single adult.
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Poverty in Tasmania
In Tasmania, 15.1% of our population is considered to be living in
poverty.
That is 75,500 people.
That is the equivalent of filling every seat at Blundstone Arena in
Bellerive more than 3 and half times.
In the Hobart area, this figure drops to 13.8% and for the whole of
Tasmania it increases to 16%
That is because if you live outside of a capital city, you are more at risk
of poverty.
Tasmania has the highest rate of poverty in Australia.
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Tasmania
Out of 29 Local Government Areas:
In the lowest decile: 5 (Break O’Day, Brighton, Derwent Valley, George
Town, West Coast)
In the lowest quintile: 14 (as above plus Burnie, Central Highlands,
Devonport, Dorset, Glamorgan/Spring Bay, Glenorchy, Southern
Midlands, Tasman, Waratah/Wynyard)
In the lowest third: 18 (as above plus Circular Head, Huon Valley,
Kentish, Launceston)
In the top decile: -In the top quintile: 2 (Hobart, Kingborough)
In the top third: 2 (Hobart, Kingborough)
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Population
groups most at risk
As we have seen, some regions in Tasmania experience higher levels of
poverty. There are also some population groups that have a higher
proportion of people living in poverty (national)
Women (14.7% of women versus 13% of men)
Children (17%)
Older people (14.8%)
Sole parents (33%)
Language other than English (18.8%)
Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander people (19.3%)
People with a disability (27.4%)
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Children and poverty in Tasmania
Proportion of children in Tasmania in low income
families
All of state: 25%
Launceston: 27%
Northern Region: 26%
Proportion of children under 15 in jobless households
All of state: 23%
Launceston: 21%
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Children and poverty in Tasmania
Children growing up in sole parent families
are at a significantly higher risk of poverty
than children in other family types.
While 17.7% of children live in households of
poverty in Australia, over a third (36.8%) of
children in sole parent households were living
in poverty.
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Children and poverty in Tasmania
The high rate of poverty among children in sole
parent households is the result of high rates of
poverty of sole parent households overall – with 33%
of lone parent households being below the poverty
line.
This indicates the risk of a child being in poverty rises
almost three fold – from 13.9% to 36.8% if their
parents separate.
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Children and poverty in Tasmania
A high 47.9% of children aged 0 to 15 in
Tasmania are in the quintile of Australian
children at highest risk of social exclusion.
This is the highest proportion of any state or
territory in Australia.
UnitingCare Children, Young People and Families and NATSEM Report Poverty, Social
Exclusion and Disadvantage in Australia October 2013
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Children and poverty in Tasmania – the
impact - School readiness
• Not physically ready for the school day
• Do not have physical independence, or are lacking
gross and fine motor skills
• Performing lower in social competence
• Demonstrating lower (school based) language and
cognitive skills
• Demonstrating lower communication skills and
general knowledge
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Children and poverty in Tasmania – the
impact – health and wellbeing
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Less likely to visit a Child Health Nurse at the 3.5
year old check
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More likely to be hospitalised due to injury
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More likely to have a child protection
notification made about them
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Suffering higher rates of assault
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Children and poverty in Tasmania
Inadequate family income can affect a child’s
nutrition and access to medical care, the safety of
their environment and the family’s ability to provide
appropriate housing, heating and clothing.
Children in low-income families are also more prone
to low school attendance, participation and
attainment.
Why does this matter…….
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Children and poverty in Tasmania – the
impact on education and income
People who complete year 12 have lifetime earnings
which are 42% higher than those who leave school at
Year 10, and 64% higher than those who do not go on
beyond year 9.
The lifetime earnings of those who go on to complete
a bachelor degree are 45-50% higher than those
whose highest educational qualification is Year 12
Andrew Leigh “Returns to Higher Education in Australia’, Economic Papers, Volume 27, No.3 (September
2008).
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Children and poverty in Tasmania – the
impact on education and income
Only 16.9% of Tasmanians aged 15-74 have a
bachelor degree or higher, compared with 24.1% of
all Australians in the same age range
34.1% of Tasmanians 15-74 have never progressed
beyond Year 10, compared with 22.2% of all
Australians in that age range.
ABS, Education and Work, Australia, May 2014, catalogue no. 6227.0
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Children and poverty in Tasmania – the
impact on education and income
And, in finishing this part of the discussion by the
most sobering statistics of all:
The most recent ABS data shows that Tasmania’s
apparent retention rate from Year 10 – Year 12 was
69.4% in 2014 – more than 13% lower than the
national average of 82.5%. This is the widest gap we
have seen since 1997.
ABS, Schools, Australia, 2014, catalogue no 4221.0
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Children and poverty in Tasmania – the
impact on participation
School A – a school in a high SES area
Overall attendance rate for all students of 91%
Attendance rate for Indigenous students of 84%
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Children and poverty in Tasmania – the
impact on participation
School B - located in an average SES area
Overall attendance rate for all students of 87%
Attendance rate for Indigenous students of 77%
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Children and poverty in Tasmania – the
impact on participation
School C – located in a low SES area
Overall attendance rate for all students of 82%
Attendance rate for Indigenous students of 68%
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Children and poverty in Tasmania – the
impact on participation
In closing, I think we need to understand the attendance issue in
primary and high school being explicitly linked to the retention
and the longer term qualifications and participation issue.
This issue of attendance goes to the heart of poverty and equity
issues.
It goes to the heart of the cost of living issues faced by families
and it goes to the heart of the health, the mental health and the
wellbeing issues of many in our community who are struggling
to afford the basics and participate in the parts of day to day life
that most of us take for granted.
That is the story of poverty in Tasmania.