Australians are healthier and wiser but are not sharing the wealth, a new snapshot of the country's welfare has found.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report suggests people living in cities are better off than their country counterparts despite the higher cost of living in urban areas.
The 30 per cent of the population living outside major cities suffered higher death rates, greater unemployment and were more likely to have a disability.
While it noted some improvements for Indigenous Australians, the report found that they had a higher mortality rate than the entire population and continued to be over-represented in the justice system.
Institute chief executive David Kalisch said the report,
Australia's Welfare 2013, revealed stark gaps across the country.
"Where we live, our family structure and our levels of education all affect the quality of our lives and how long we can expect to live," he said.
Australians are living longer. People aged 65 or over make up 14 per cent of the population, compared with 8 per cent in 1972. Meanwhile, the proportion of people aged under 25 has fallen from 46 per cent to 32 per cent over.
The ageing population is affecting household structure, with the proportion of "empty nester" couples set to overtake couples with kids by 2014 - even though children are staying in the family home for longer.
The proportion of non-dependent children living with parents grew from 20 per cent in 1997 to 23 per cent in 2009-10.
The soaring cost of housing, from four times the average household income in 2002 to seven times in 2011, is also having an impact. More households are paying off a mortgage than own their homes outright - 36 per cent versus 33 per cent - a reversal of the figures from 10 years ago.
The proportion of renters is up, to 29 per cent from 26 per cent in 1994-95, and housing stress for low income households increased from 19 per cent to 22 per cent between 2003-04 and 2009-10.
The cost of living may explain the increase in the number of older people still in the workforce.
Over the past decade, the proportion of men aged 65-69 in the workforce leapt from 20 per cent to 34 per cent while the proportion of women in the same age group still working increased from 9 per cent to 20 per cent, although the majority worked part time.
The proportion of part-time workers has doubled over the past 30 years, with one in three employees working part time in 2012.
Young people and those with a disability suffered higher rates of unemployment than the general population.
We are wiser, with 59 per cent of people holding a non-school qualification in 2012 compared with 48 per cent in 2002.
The wealthiest group in the community were those aged 55-64, whose households had a mean net worth of just over $1 million, comprising property, superannuation and other assets.
The highest-earning 20 per cent of households had an average post-tax income of $1704 a week compared with the lowest-earning 20 per cent, whose income was $314 a week.
About 13 per cent of the Australian population is living in poverty and 25 per cent receive government assistance, such as the aged pension, carers or disability allowance or family support payment.
楼主: ablackbird
发表于 2013-8-6 13:14
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