Media release: Cost of living crisis drives an increase in child poverty in Australia.

It’s been 1 week since the launch of the ​The Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre Child Poverty in Australia 2024 report. We are open and welcome to media inquiries, eager to share our knowledge, research, and the impactful work we are doing. Representatives from our organisation are ready to speak on behalf of the Valuing Children Initiative and the End Child Poverty Campaign. For media inquiries, please contact us at info@valuingchildreninitiative.com.au or call Ph: 08 9325 6644.

Thursday August 8, 2024

Cost of living crisis drives an increase in child poverty in Australia.

Researchers are predicting that soaring rental costs over the past two years will result in the Western Australia child poverty rate to rise from 11.8 per cent to 15.2 per cent in 2024 – plunging 21,000 more children into poverty.

New research by Bankwest Curtin Economics out today shows that cost of living for low-income families is disproportionately affected by rental costs, which make up a bigger slice of their weekly budget.

The Child Poverty in Australia 2024 report also compared the life outcomes of young people who grew up in poverty, exposing the scarring effect on life outcomes.

Rental costs for the average family rose 11.2 percent between 2020 and 2022, but rental costs for lower income families rose by 17.8 per cent.

This will put nearly 21,000 more children into poverty in WA, including 13,600 more children in single parent families, and 7,000 in couple families.

The report also found:

·        Children who experience poverty and housing stress are significantly more likely to suffer nervousness or feel unhappy with their lives for up to ten years after leaving home.

·        Children are 8 per cent more likely to stay in poverty into adulthood

·        Children are 11 per cent less likely to be employed

·        Child poverty in Australia has risen significantly as a result in the years since COVID.

·        Parents and their children forced to find cheaper housing are six times more likely to be dissatisfied with life and show levels of psychological distress that are on average twice as high as those that don’t.

·        One in 13 families who are forced to move are unhappy with their new home

·        Another 102,000 children were plunged into poverty between 2021 and 2022 nationwide

·        3.7 million people and 823,000 children living below the poverty line.

Costs have continued to rise over the past two years, with median rents rising by 16 per cent and 12 per cent respectively in 2023 and 2024 according to data from the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia (REIWA).

“This shows the disproportionate impact of prices growth on those on low incomes, as the rising cost of essential items pushes many more under the poverty line,” said report author, Professor Alan Duncan.

The data show the first wave of impacts of the ongoing cost of living crisis. It also highlights the positive impacts of COVID-income supplements that dramatically reduced child poverty rates between 2019 and 2021, showing what is possible under a more supportive policy.

Released during Homelessness Week, the research was commissioned by the Valuing Children Initiative for the End Child Poverty campaign.

VCI founder and Centrecare Director Tony Pietropiccolo AM said these figures are a wake-up call to the nation and that we must urgently address the systemic causes of childhood poverty in Australia.

“We are failing every Australian child who each day is going hungry, without a place to call home and reduced educational and life opportunities. Most Australians are shocked to discover that 17 per cent of our kids live in poverty,” he said.

“Children depend on adults to create the conditions that allow them to have a dignified life and the ability to thrive, and we all have a responsibility to make that happen.

“That’s why we are calling on the Australian government to introduce legislation to end child poverty. We have the wealth, knowledge and means to achieve it.”

Media Contacts:

·        Adj. Prof. Tony Pietropiccolo AM, Co-founder, Valuing Children Initiative 0417 95 15 95

·        Prof. Alan Duncan, Director, Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre Mob. 0400 210 568

Read the full report at www.endchildpoverty.com.au