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  • Mar, 2015

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    Income and cost of living

    Q. In the last two years, do you think your and your household’s income has gone up more than the cost of living, fallen behind or stayed even with the cost of living?

      Total   Work full time Work part time Income less than $600 pw Income $600-$1,000pw Income $1,000-$1,600 pw Income $1,600+ pw   Oct 2014
    Gone up more 15% 18% 17% 12% 13% 18% 19% 13%
    Fallen behind 50% 48% 51% 62% 53% 46% 46% 48%
    Stayed even 27% 28% 25% 21% 30% 29% 30% 31%
    Don’t know 7% 6% 7% 6% 4% 7% 5% 8%

    50% believe that, in the last two years, their income has fallen behind the cost of living. 27% think it has stayed even with the cost of living and 15% think it has gone up more.

    62% of those earning under $600 pw and 53% of those earning $600-$1,000 pw think their income has fallen behind while 49% of those earning over $1,600 pw think it has stayed the same or gone up.

    These results are much the same as when this question was asked in October.

  • May, 2012

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    State of the Economy

    Q. Overall, how would you describe the current state of the Australian economy?

     

    Total

    Vote Labor

    Vote Lib/Nat

    Vote Greens

    Total good

    35%

    56%

    24%

    54%

    Total poor

    29%

    13%

    42%

    18%

    Very good

    6%

    13%

    2%

    17%

    Good

    29%

    43%

    22%

    37%

    Neither good nor poor

    33%

    30%

    33%

    28%

    Poor

    20%

    9%

    29%

    14%

    Very poor

    9%

    4%

    13%

    4%

    Don’t know

    2%

    2%

    *

    1%

    35% described the economy as good or very good and 29% poor/very poor – 33% said it was neither.

    Those most likely to think the economy was good/very good were aged 18-34 (41%) and people with incomes over $1,600pw (44%).

    Those most likely to think the economy was poor/very poor were aged 55+ (34%) and people with incomes of $600-$1,000pw (36%).

    Comments »

  • May, 2012

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    Household Financial Situation

    Q. How would you describe the current financial situation of your household?

     

    Total

    Vote Labor

    Vote Lib/Nat

    Vote Greens

    Total satisfactory

    43%

    53%

    39%

    49%

    Total unsatisfactory

    28%

    27%

    30%

    17%

    Very satisfactory

    7%

    12%

    3%

    15%

    Satisfactory

    36%

    41%

    36%

    34%

    Neither satisfactory nor unsatisfactory

    28%

    19%

    31%

    33%

    Unsatisfactory

    18%

    18%

    19%

    10%

    Very unsatisfactory

    10%

    9%

    11%

    7%

    Don’t know

    1%

    1%

    *

    1%

    43% consider their current household financial situation to be satisfactory and 28% say it is unsatisfactory. 28% said it was neither.

    Those most likely to be satisfied were full-time workers (49%) and those on incomes over $1,600pw (61%).

    Those most likely to be dissatisfied were aged 45-54 (38%), not working (34%) and on incomes under $1,000pw (44%).

    Comments »

  • Mar, 2012

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    Income Level to be Middle Income

    Q. What annual income level would you say was “middle income” for a single person?

    What annual income level would you say was “middle income” for a family of 2 parents and 2 children?

     

    Single Person

    Family

     

    Total

    Income under $1,000pw

    Income $1,000 – $1,600pw

    Income $1,600+

    Total

    Income under $1,000pw

    Income $1,000 – $1,600pw

    Income $1,600+

    Less than $40,000

    6%

    13%

    4%

    1%

    1%

    3%

    $40,000-$59,000

    31%

    35%

    34%

    28%

    7%

    14%

    5%

    2%

    $60,000-$79,000

    38%

    32%

    41%

    47%

    21%

    27%

    25%

    15%

    $80,000-$99,000

    15%

    12%

    14%

    17%

    28%

    26%

    33%

    29%

    $100,000-$119,000

    3%

    2%

    4%

    3%

    20%

    14%

    21%

    26%

    $120,000-$149,000

    1%

    1%

    1%

    1%

    11%

    9%

    8%

    17%

    $150,000-$199,000

    *

    1%

    5%

    2%

    4%

    10%

    $200,000 or more

    *

    1%

    1%

    Don’t know

    5%

    5%

    2%

    1%

    5%

    5%

    3%

    1%

    median

    $66,000

    $60,000

    $65,000

    $69,000

    $94,000

    $83,000

    $92,000

    $103,000

    69% of respondents think that “middle income” for a single person is between $40,00 and $79,000 a year. 38% think it is $60,000-$79,000.

    80% of those earning under $1,000 pw think “middle income” for a single person is less than $80,000, while those on more than $1,600 pw are most likely to think it is $60,000-$79,000 (47%). The median (average) income for “middle income” for a single person is $66,000.

    Estimates are more broadly spread when it comes to “middle income” families – 69% think it would be between $60,000 and $119,000. 65% think it would be at least $80,000. The median (average) income for “middle income” for a family is $94,000.

    Comments »

  • Mar, 2012

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    Income Level to be Well Off

    Q. What annual income level would you say was the minimum to be “well off” for a single person?

    What annual income level would you say was the minimum to be “well off” for a family of 2 parents and 2 children?

    Single Person

    Family

     

    Total

    Income under $1,000pw

    Income $1,000 – $1,600pw

    Income $1,600+

    Total

    Income under $1,000pw

    Income $1,000 – $1,600pw

    Income $1,600+

    $40,000

    9%

    15%

    7%

    5%

    1%

    2%

    *

    1%

    $60,000

    26%

    28%

    31%

    23%

    6%

    13%

    5%

    2%

    $80,000

    28%

    25%

    27%

    33%

    15%

    21%

    17%

    10%

    $100,000

    19%

    15%

    20%

    24%

    17%

    19%

    19%

    15%

    $120,000

    7%

    5%

    6%

    9%

    16%

    12%

    19%

    17%

    $150,000

    3%

    3%

    3%

    5%

    21%

    16%

    18%

    29%

    $200,000

    1%

    *

    1%

    1%

    12%

    5%

    14%

    18%

    $300,000

    1%

    2%

    *

    1%

    3%

    3%

    2%

    5%

    $500,000

    *

    *

    1%

    2%

    3%

    1%

    1%

    $1 million

    1%

    1%

    1%

    1%

    1%

    1%

    1%

    Don’t know

    5%

    6%

    4%

    1%

    5%

    5%

    4%

    1%

    median

    $69,000

    $63,000

    $67,000

    $73,000

    $111,000

    $93,000

    $107,000

    $123,000

    63% think that a single person earning $80,000 would be considered “well off”. The average (median) minimum income for a single person to be considered “well off” was $69,000.

    55% think that a family earning $120,000 would be considered “well off”. The average (median) minimum income for a family to be considered “well off” was $111,000.

    Comments »

  • Mar, 2012

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    Income Level to be Wealthy

    Q. What annual income level would you say was the minimum to be “wealthy” for a single person?

    What annual income level would you say was the minimum to be “wealthy” for a family of 2 parents and 2 children?

    Single Person

    Family

     

    Total

    Income under $1,000pw

    Income $1,000 – $1,600pw

    Income $1,600+

    Total

    Income under $1,000pw

    Income $1,000 – $1,600pw

    Income $1,600+

    $40,000

    2%

    3%

    1%

    1%

    1%

    $60,000

    6%

    10%

    4%

    6%

    2%

    2%

    3%

    *

    $80,000

    15%

    17%

    20%

    10%

    4%

    7%

    3%

    2%

    $100,000

    21%

    19%

    25%

    23%

    9%

    13%

    10%

    5%

    $120,000

    14%

    11%

    15%

    17%

    9%

    10%

    13%

    6%

    $150,000

    17%

    18%

    13%

    22%

    19%

    17%

    22%

    20%

    $200,000

    10%

    8%

    10%

    11%

    22%

    20%

    16%

    32%

    $300,000

    4%

    3%

    4%

    4%

    15%

    10%

    15%

    19%

    $500,000

    4%

    3%

    6%

    3%

    9%

    9%

    11%

    7%

    $1 million

    3%

    3%

    1%

    3%

    5%

    4%

    4%

    7%

    Don’t know

    5%

    4%

    2%

    1%

    5%

    5%

    3%

    1%

    median

    $106,000

    $102,000

    $98,000

    $113,000

    $159,000

    $146,000

    $147,000

    $182,000

    58% think that a single person earning $120,000 would be considered “wealthy”. The average (median) minimum income for a single person to be considered “wealthy” was $106,000.

    66% think that a family earning $200,000 would be considered “wealthy”. The average (median) minimum income for a family to be considered “wealthy” was $159,000.

    Comments »

  • Mar, 2012

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    Social Class

    Q. Do you believe social classes still exist in Australia? 

     

    Total

    Vote Labor

    Vote Lib/Nat

    Vote Greens

    Income under $600pw

    Income $600 – $1,000pw

    Income $1,000 – $1,600pw

    Income $1,600+

    Yes

    86%

    87%

    83%

    90%

    84%

    86%

    84%

    87%

    No

    8%

    8%

    11%

    3%

    5%

    7%

    10%

    8%

    Don’t know

    7%

    5%

    6%

    7%

    10%

    7%

    7%

    5%

    86% agreed that social class still exists in Australia – only 8% disagreed. There was little difference across demographic groups – more than 80% of all major groups agreed.

    Comments »

  • Dec, 2011

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    Christmas Spending


    Q. And now about Christmas spending – compared to last year, do you expect to be spending more on gifts at Christmas, less or much the same?

    Dec 08 Dec 09 Nov 10 Dec 11
    Will spend more 3% 11% 10% 13%
    Will be spending less 38% 38% 38% 40%
    Spend much the same 55% 47% 48% 44%
    Don’t know 5% 4% 5% 3%

    Views about spending on gifts at Christmas remain similar to last year’s. 13% say they will spend more (up 3%), 40% spend less (up 2%) and 44% much the same (down 4%).

    23% of those aged under 35 say they will spend more, 46% of those aged 35-44 will spend less and 56% of those aged 55+ will spend much the same. There is no significant relationship between changes in spending and income.

    Comments »

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