Child poverty statistics: Year ended June 2018

Child poverty statistics provide estimates of low income and material hardship rates for measures listed in the Child Poverty Reduction Act 2018.

Key facts and data limitations

Statistics in this release will be used as baseline rates by Government to set 3- and 10-year targets for reducing child poverty for the three primary measures specified in the Child Poverty Reduction Act 2018 (the Act).
These statistics are based on household economic surveys (HES) up to 2017/18. The surveys are suitable for identifying general trends over time, but have limitations, due to a relatively small sample size and some sample bias, for use as baseline rates.
We used additional data sources and methodologies to produce estimates for the years 2017/18 and earlier that are as robust as possible for the provision of baseline estimates.
For the series to 2017/18, we emphasise the need to look at the general trend over time and caution against reaching definitive conclusions from reported year-on-year changes.

Findings for the 2017/18 financial year:

16 percent of children lived in households with an income that was less than 50 percent of the median equivalised disposable household income, before housing costs are deducted.
23 percent of children lived in households with an income that was less than 50 percent of the median equivalised disposable income, after housing costs are deducted, in the 2017/18 year (the base financial year).
13 percent of children lived in households that experienced material hardship (that is, have a score of six or more items on the material hardship index).

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