Poverty in Australia
Many people think that Australia is a rich country. They think just because most of our population is not dying of starvation and completely curable diseases such as influenza that Australia does not have many problems when it comes to poverty. In truth, even the poorest Australians would be considered lucky in many overseas countries such as Africa and India. But even if Australians living in poverty are lucky as compared to those in overseas countries, the fact still remains that poverty in Australia is widespread.So what do we mean when we say the word poverty? Well of course, there are the slang terms such as povo which many use to describe people or places that they consider are not up to their standards. The dictionary meaning is "the condition of being poor with respect to money, goods, or means of subsistence." The exact meaning of poverty is quite ambivalent, but it generally it means living below the general standard of life in your country. This means that it changes in each country. For example, a family living in a tin shed eating one or two meals a day would be considered poverty stricken in the western world, but in places like Africa and India this same family could be considered as comparatively for
Ø Large families - large families are classified as families with four or more dependent children. Of these, 22% are poor. Ø Students - the number of students living in poverty is very hard to pinpoint, although many students are living on pensions. Independent students receive about $119.65 a week. Many consider this as quite a bit, but when you consider the cost of housing, clothing, food and school or university fees you realise that this is barely sufficient. Ø Aboriginals - the indigenous Australians are one group who is under great genuine deprivation. One third of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are homeless or live in sub-standard accommodation. Indigenous Australians have a life expectancy 15 - 20 years below the national average. Sociologists have found that the poor fall into a number of categories. These categories are the groups that are most affected by poverty in Australia: There are many types of poverty. These include: Primary poverty (when income does not cover the costs of basic needs such as food, clothes and shelter), Secondary poverty (when income is sufficient, but is unwisely used eg. gambling), case poverty (people who are extremely underprivileged), insular poverty (people who live in a poverty-stricken area, these are regarded as "always has been and always will be po
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Approximate Word count = 887
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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