Resources

Bradbury, Bruce and Saunders, Peter (2021), “Housing costs and poverty: Analysing recent Australian trends”, Journal of Housing and the Built Environment https://doi.org/10.1007/s10901-021-09899-w.

This paper examines recent trends in Australian poverty, both measured using disposable income (before housing costs, BHC) and income after subtracting housing costs (AHC). Household-level data from Australian Bureau of Statistics household income surveys are used to estimate relative poverty rates since 1999-00. Changes in the Australian housing market, especially the large increase in house prices and falling home ownership, mean that trends and relative levels of poverty are quite different when using these two alternative measures of resources. While BHC poverty has decreased, AHC poverty has not - because of rising housing costs. These shifts have changed the profile of AHC poverty and raise important questions about the adequacy and sustainability of existing housing and income support policies.

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