Proportion of Australian families living in poverty by household type in 1999

The table illustrates the percentage and total number of individuals living in poverty across various Australian household types in 1999. Overall, 11% of all households, representing 1,837,000 people, were living in poverty.

Sole parents recorded the highest proportion of poverty at 21%, followed closely by single people without children at 19%. Despite these high percentages, the actual number of people in these categories was 232,000 and 359,000 respectively. In contrast, couples with children had a lower poverty rate of 12%, yet this group accounted for the largest number of individuals in poverty, totalling 933,000 people.

Aged households were the least likely to be living in poverty. Aged couples had the lowest rate at 4% (48,000 people), while single aged persons experienced a slightly higher rate of 6% (54,000 people). Couples without children fell in the middle of the range, with 7% of their population living in poverty, amounting to 211,000 individuals. In summary, while sole parents and single individuals without children faced the greatest risk of poverty, families with children represented the largest absolute number of people living in impoverished conditions.