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Relative Poverty In Australia

Decent Essays

Introduction
Relative poverty describes people who fail to earn an income that provides them with the ability to obtain the national standard of living (Dunn 2017, 377). Although subject to change, the Australian poverty line puts single households earning less than $430 a week, and households of 4 that earn less than $895 a week, as living under the poverty line. As 3 million Australians currently live in these conditions, families and individuals are increasingly susceptible to disadvantages (Australian Council of Social Service 2016, 7). The following report will link statistical evidence of health and education to key concepts of life chances and structural inequality. These links will provide insight into barriers between those living …show more content…

For example, in 2014 the disadvantaged were 23% more likely to have arthritis (compared to 15% for advantaged), alongside 1/3rd of disadvantage population being obese (compared to 1/5th of advantaged persons) (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2014 para. 12 and 23). This constitutes structural inequality as those born in lower income locations are more likely to contract medical issues compared to those that are born in higher income areas. The lack of good health in disadvantaged communities can be presumed from the inaccessibility to health care facilities. In 2006 there was approximately 1 in 10 general practitioners working in poverty-stricken areas compared to 1 in 4 working in advantaged areas (ABS 2014, para. 25). This exemplifies how structural inequality creates certain opportunities for some compared to others. This opportunity exists through the ability for the wealthy to obtain medical advice due to its increased availability within these areas, compared to those in relative poverty who are not provided with the same opportunity as …show more content…

Restricted access to educational resources have persistently influenced children’s abilities to learn effectively, often resulting in an overall performance drop in school, seeing 67% of low income children completing grade 12, compared to children from more advantaged families where higher incomes provide better educational results for children, seeing 88% of these children completing year 12 (Ladd 2012, 204; Ferguson, Bovaird and Mueller 2007, 702; Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority 2012, 40). This becomes increasingly alarming as educational results heavily influence a person’s ability to obtain work. Performing well in school is vital as it provides opportunities for individuals to go into the labour force and the ability to obtain qualifications as 86% of higher occupational work requires post-secondary qualifications, and 50% of jobs require some sort of post-school qualification (Callander, Schofield and Shrestha 2012, 149). This indicates how life chances of being born into a family that is experiencing relative poverty prohibits children to effectively be provided with quality education. This enhances the disadvantages of those in relative poverty as it is evident that further implications of unsuccessful results of accessing higher paying jobs prevents

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