Friday, August 6, 1999
Rich get richer as the poor miss out
By TOM ALLARD in Canberra
The booming economy has done nothing to bridge the income gulf between
Australia's rich and poor, with figures released yesterday showing the
wealthiest 20 per cent earned almost 13 times more than the poorest 20
per cent.
In a trend labelled "disgraceful" by the welfare lobby, the three years
to 1997-98 saw the average weekly income of the bottom 20 per cent or
quintile increase by $7 while the top quintile rose by $121 a week.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics figures also revealed a geographical
dimension to the income inequality - the average earnings in cities, at
$706 per week, were 24 per cent higher than the $569 average weekly
earnings in regional and rural areas.
"These figures confirm the unfortunate fact that Australia is a divided
country. It's not the egalitarian place people think it is," said the
president of the Australian Council of Social Service, Mr Michael Raper.
"This is a disgraceful level of inequality which will worsen next year
when pensioners and ordinary Australians are faced with a GST while high
income earners get a $62 a week pay rise."
The introduction of a GST is the first major policy initiative in more
than four years and, even in its modified form, is expected to widen the
wealth gulf, according to modelling.
The level of inequality has barely moved over the past four years, with
the highest income quintile accounting for just under 50 per cent of
wealth. The bottom quintile, by contrast, earned less than 4 per cent of
total income.
One of the main enclaves of poverty is the burgeoning pool of
single-parent families. There are now more than 500,000, or 20 per cent
of all families.
Their average income was $463 per week, less than half the $1,074 earned
by two-parent couples and well below the average income for all
Australians of $658 per week.
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