Home

• Introduction
• 1 Demographics and characteristics
• 2 Health and well-being
• 3 Children and crime
• 4 Economic well-being
  • 4.8: Economic well-being of families
    • Key statistics at a glance
    • Introduction
    • Economic hardship
    • Access to adequate housing
    • Summary
    • References
    • List of tables
    • Appendix: Data tables
  • 4.9: Work and Income of Children
• 5 Childcare and education
• 6 Children in communities
• 7 Harm and injury
• Appendices
• About

Key statistics at a glance

• In 2006, 53.7 per cent of dependent children lived in households with an equivalised income Equivalised household income is an indicator of the economic resources available to each member of a household. It can therefore be used for comparing the situation of individuals as well as comparing the situation of households. of less than $600 per week.
• A higher proportion of Aboriginal children (82.7%) compared with all children (53.7%) lived in households with an average income less than $600 per week.
• The proportion of children living in lower income households is higher for children living with one parent (89.5%) compared with children living with two parents (60.9%).
• The NSW areas of Far West, North Western and Mid-North Coast had higher proportions of children living in households with an average income of less than $250 per week compared with the state average.
• Within Sydney, the Canterbury-Bankstown, Fairfield-Liverpool and Central Western Sydney areas had higher proportions of children living in families where the average weekly income was less than $250.
• In 2007-08, the median equivalised disposable household income for all households in NSW was $676 per week.
• In a 12 month period between 2007 and 2008, 6.3 per cent of parents said there were times when they had run out of food and could not afford to buy more (food insecurity).
• There has been no significant change in this proportion between 2001 and 2007-2008.
• A higher proportion of parents living in rural areas (7.5%) compared with those living in urban areas (5.7%) reported food insecurityIn this survey, the term urban means the respondent lived in 1 of the 4 area health services designated as metropolitan: Northern Sydney & Central Coast, South Eastern Sydney and Illawarra, Sydney South West, and Sydney West. The term rural means the respondent lived in 1 of the 4 area health services designated as rural: Greater Southern, Greater Western, Hunter & New England, and North Coast..
• The most commonly reported method for coping with food insecurity for families were cutting down on the variety of foods the family eat (42.3%), followed by asking for help from relatives (32.6%).
• In 2006 approximately 14.1 per cent of private households with children in NSW were overcrowdedOvercrowding is defined as households with three or more people living in a bedsit or one bedroom dwelling; four or more people living in a two bedroom dwelling; or five or more people living in a three bedroom dwelling.. The rate for households with Aboriginal children was higher at 17.0 per cent.
• In 2006, 0.5 per cent of all 0-18 year olds were homeless, this equated to 7,902 children.
• Of the total homeless population in NSW, 18.2 per cent were aged 12-18 years (mainly living on their own) and 10.6 per cent were children under 12 years who were with one or both parents.
• Children aged 12-18 years were most at risk of homelessness, with eight in 1,000 homeless in 2006. This compares with three in 1,000 children under 12 years.
• A higher proportion of homeless children were female (53.4%) compared with males (46.6%).