1301.0 - Year Book Australia, 2012
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 24/05/2012
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Statistics contained in the Year Book are the most recent available at the time of preparation. In many cases, the ABS website and the websites of other organisations provide access to more recent data. Each Year Book table or graph and the bibliography at the end of each chapter provides hyperlinks to the most up to date data release where available.
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HOUSEHOLD INCOME, EXPENDITURE AND WEALTH
INCOME
This section provides measures of the level and distribution of after-tax (disposable) household income, after adjusting for household size and composition. The estimates of disposable income are derived from the gross income data collected by the ABS in the 2009–10 Survey of Income and Housing, with deductions for estimated income tax liability, the Medicare levy and the Medicare levy surcharge.
Gross income includes:
While income is usually received by individuals, it is normally shared between partners in a couple relationship and with dependent children. To a lesser degree, there may be sharing with other members of the household. Even when there is no transfer of income between members of a household, nor provision of free or cheap accommodation, members are still likely to benefit from the economies of scale that arise from the sharing of dwellings. The income measures shown in this section therefore relate to household income.
However, larger households normally require a greater level of income to maintain the same material standard of living as smaller households, and the needs of adults are normally greater than the needs of children. The household income estimates are therefore adjusted by equivalence factors to standardise the income estimates with respect to household size and composition, while taking into account the economies of scale that arise from the sharing of dwellings. The equivalised disposable household income estimate represents the amount of disposable income that a single person household would require to maintain the same standard of living as the household in question, regardless of the size or composition of that household.
To calculate the equivalised disposable income of a household, each member of the household is allocated 'equivalence points'. Taking the first adult in the household as having a weight of 1 point, each additional person aged 15 years or older is allocated 0.5 of a point, and each child under the age of 15 years is allocated 0.3 of a point. Equivalised disposable household income is then derived by dividing disposable household income by a factor equal to the sum of the 'equivalence points' allocated to the household members. The equivalised disposable income of a single person household is the same as its unequivalised disposable income. When disposable household income is negative, equivalised disposable income is set to zero.
In this chapter, estimates in ‘real’ terms have been adjusted to 2009–10 dollars using changes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
In 2009–10, mean (i.e. average) equivalised disposable household income (i.e. the income that a single person household would require to maintain the same standard of living as the average person) for all persons living in private dwellings was $848 per week. There were approximately 21.6 million people living in private dwellings.
Mean equivalised disposable household income did not show any significant change in real terms between 2007–08 ($859) and 2009–10 ($848). In real terms, there was also no significant change for low, middle or high income households (graph 9.1).
In 2007–08, there was a break in series due to improvements in measuring income introduced in this survey cycle. Adjusting for this break in series, the net increase between 1994–95 and 2009–10 was 48%.
Household characteristics
Households with different characteristics tend to have different income levels, as shown in table 9.2. In 2009–10, wages and salaries were the main source of income for 80% of households with middle income level and 86% of those with high income level. In contrast, government pensions and allowances were the main source of income for low income households (64%). However, low income households had the highest incidence of full ownership of their home (45%), reflecting the high proportion of older people in the low income category.
Middle income households contained more people on average than high income households (2.8 compared with 2.5) but contained fewer employed persons (1.6 compared with 1.9). In part, this reflects the different age profiles of the two groups, with middle income households containing more persons under 18 years of age on average, compared to high income households (0.8 compared with 0.4). Low income households had an average of 0.6 employed persons and housed an average of 2.4 persons.
Life cycle stages
Income levels across the population partly reflect the different life cycle stages that people have reached. A typical life cycle includes childhood, early adulthood, and the forming and maturing of families. Table 9.3 compares households in selected life cycle groups.
Of the groups included in table 9.3, younger couples without children had the highest mean equivalised disposable household income of $1,162 per week, with an average of 1.8 employed persons in the household. For couples with dependent children only, and with the eldest child being under five years, mean equivalised disposable household income was $822 per week (71% of that of young couples without children). This lower income principally reflects the lower average number of employed persons in these households (1.5) and the larger average number of persons in these households (3.4) over which incomes are shared. Mean equivalised disposable household incomes were higher for households with only non-dependent children ($995) than those with any dependent children. People living in lone person households where the reference person was aged 65 years and over had the lowest average incomes at $473 per week. This was lower than for couple only households where the reference person was aged 65 years and over ($594 per week). Older lone persons were more likely than older couples to have government pensions and allowances as their main source of household income (76% compared with 65%), while older couples were more likely to fully own their home (84% compared to 72% for older lone persons).
Households comprising one parent with dependent children had an average income of $547 per week. Only 12% fully owned their home and, therefore, a substantially greater proportion were making mortgage or rental payments from their income. An estimated 50% of one parent households had government pensions and allowances as their main source of household income. On average, there were 0.9 employed persons in the household.
States and territories
There were differences in the average levels of income between the states and territories (table 9.4). Tasmania's mean equivalised disposable household weekly income was 83% of the national average and South Australia's was 94%. The Australian Capital Territory, Western Australia and the Northern Territory have the highest mean equivalised disposable household incomes (30%, 14%, and 11% above the national average respectively). The high income levels reflect, in part, the younger age profile of the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory, and the greater number of employed persons per household. The results for the Northern Territory also reflect the exclusion of households in collection districts defined as very remote which, if included, would be likely to reduce the mean income. This potential for an overestimated mean income in the NT is based on the large relative size of the very remote population for that territory.
There are also differences between the equivalised disposable household incomes recorded in capital cities compared to those earned elsewhere in Australia. At the national level, mean incomes in the capital cities were 19% above those in the balance of state, with all states recording capital city mean incomes above those in the balance of state except in WA where the mean income differences were not statistically significant. The largest differences recorded were for Victoria and South Australia, where the capital city incomes were 23% and 22% respectively, above the mean incomes across the rest of the state.
BALANCE OF STATE(b)
ALL HOUSEHOLDS
Income distribution
While the mean equivalised disposable household income of all households in Australia in 2009–10 was $848 per week, the median (i.e. the midpoint when all people are ranked in order of income) was lower at $715 per week. This difference reflects the typically asymmetric distribution of income where a relatively small number of people have relatively high household incomes, and a large number of people have relatively lower household incomes (graph 9.5).
Percentile ratios are one measure of the spread of incomes across the population. P90 (i.e. the income level dividing the bottom 90% of the population from the top 10%) and P10 (i.e. dividing the bottom 10% of the population from the rest) are shown in graph 9.5. In 2009–10, P90 was $1,448 per week and P10 was $344 per week, giving a P90/P10 ratio of 4.21. Various percentile ratios for selected years are shown in table 9.6, and the changes in these ratios can provide a picture of changing income distribution over time. Note that the lower the ratio, the smaller the difference between high and low incomes, and the lower the inequality.
Another measure of income distribution is provided by the income shares going to groups of people at different points in the income distribution. Table 9.6 shows that, in 2009–10, 10% of total equivalised disposable household income went to people in the 'low income' group (i.e. the 20% of the population in the second and third income deciles), with 40% going to the 'high income' group (represented by the 20% of the population in the highest income quintile).
The Gini coefficient is a single statistic that lies between 0 and 1 and is a summary indicator of the degree of income inequality. Values closer to 0 represent a lesser degree of inequality (if 0, then all household incomes would be equal) and values closer to 1 represent greater inequality (if 1, a single household would have all the income). For 2009–10, the Gini coefficient was 0.328.
(b) Persons in the second and third income deciles.
HOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURE
This section presents estimates of household expenditure compiled from the 2009–10 Household Expenditure Survey (HES) conducted by the ABS. HES collected detailed information on the expenditure, income, net worth, and characteristics of households in Australia.
The household is the usual unit of analysis for expenditure because it is assumed that sharing of the use of goods and services occurs at this level. If smaller units are adopted, for example, persons, then it is difficult to attribute the use of shared items such as accommodation and household goods, and of expenditure on items consumed by others, such as food.
In 2009–10, Australian households spent an average of $1,236 per week on goods and services (graph 9.7 and table 9.8). The broad categories with the highest household expenditures were:
The level and pattern of expenditure differ between households, reflecting characteristics such as income, household composition, household size and location.
The level and pattern of expenditure also differed between households with differing income levels (table 9.8). In 2009–10, low income households (represented by the 20% of people in the second and third income deciles) spent $760 per week on goods and services, compared with $1,938 spent by high income households (those in the highest income quintile). Low and high income households had average gross weekly incomes of $704 and $3,581 respectively.
The composition of a household’s weekly expenditure is also affected by the level of household income. For example, food and non-alcoholic drinks accounted for 20% of the expenditure on goods and services of low income households, compared with 15% for high income households. In general, the proportion spent on household services, domestic fuel and power, and tobacco products also declined as household income rose, while the proportion spent on recreation and alcoholic beverages increased.
WEALTH
Wealth is a net concept measuring the extent to which the value of household assets exceeds the value of liabilities. The 2003–04, 2005–06 and 2009–10 Surveys of Income and Housing collected a comprehensive range of information on household assets and liabilities to enable the production of statistics on net worth (or wealth). In 2009–10, the mean value of household assets was $839,000 (table 9.9). The mean value of household liabilities was $120,000, resulting in average household net worth of $720,000.
Owner occupied dwellings were the main form of asset held by households. An estimated 69% of all households own their home outright or with a mortgage, with an average home value of $531,000. When averaged across all households, that is, across both owner occupiers and non-owner occupiers, the average was $365,000 and represented 43% of all household assets. Just over 20% of households owned property other than their own home, including holiday homes, and residential and non-residential property for rent. These accounted for 16% of all household assets. Balances in superannuation funds were the largest financial asset held by households, averaging $116,000 per household across all households and accounting for 14% of all household assets. Around 75% of households had some superannuation assets.
Loans outstanding on owner occupied dwellings were the largest household liability. They averaged $188,000 for owner occupier households with a mortgage, giving them an average net value in their dwellings of $333,000. Across all households, the average value of loans outstanding on owner occupied dwellings was $68,000, or 57% of all household liabilities. Loans outstanding for other property averaged $37,000 and accounted for 31% of all household liabilities
The distribution of wealth (net worth) across households is very unequal, partly reflecting the common pattern of people gradually accumulating wealth throughout their working life. In 2009–10, the 20% of households with the lowest net worth accounted for only 1% of the net worth of all households, with an average net worth of $32,000 per household. The share of net worth increases with each higher net worth quintile, with 5% for the second quintile, 12% for the third quintile, 20% for the fourth quintile, while the wealthiest 20% of households in Australia accounted for 62% of total household net worth, with an average net worth of $2.2 million per household.
The distributional pattern of net worth is also marked when considered in terms of sources of income. Households where the main source of household income is 'other' income (principally investment income) had average household net worth of $1.8 million, while those where the main source of income was government pensions and allowances had average household net worth of $370,000. Net worth in renter households was on average about 13% of the net worth for owner households without a mortgage, and about 21% of the net worth for owner households with a mortgage.
ASSETS (MEAN VALUES)
LIABILITIES (MEAN VALUES)
NET WORTH (MEAN VALUES)
CHARACTERISTICS