Child poverty statistics provide estimates of low income and material hardship rates for measures listed in the Child Poverty Reduction Act 2018 (the Act).
All nine child poverty measures, including statistics for annual changes, are available for download below. Statistics are available by ethnicity and disability status.
The Household Economic Survey, from which these measures were estimated, was conducted between July 2022 and June 2023. Households were asked to report income and expenditure for the 12 months prior to interview. This means that for some households, income will refer to income received in the 2021/2022 year.
Child poverty statistics: Year ended June 2023 - technical appendix has more information about the survey and methodology used for estimating child poverty rates.
| Year ended June | Percent |
| 2013 | 15.6 |
| 2014 | 14.5 |
| 2015 | 16.3 |
| 2016 | 15.4 |
| 2017 | 14.2 |
| 2018 | 16.5 |
| 2019 | 13.5 |
| 2020 | 13.2 |
| 2021 | 13 |
| 2022 R | 11.7 |
| 2023 | 12.6 |
| 14.4 | 16.8 |
|---|---|
| 13.4 | 15.6 |
| 15.2 | 17.4 |
| 14.3 | 16.5 |
| 13.1 | 15.3 |
| 15.4 | 17.6 |
| 12.6 | 14.4 |
| 12 | 14.4 |
| 11.8 | 14.2 |
| 10 | 13.4 |
| 11.3 | 13.9 |
| 24.3 | 29.5 |
|---|---|
| 24.4 | 30.2 |
| 24.3 | 30.1 |
| 22 | 26.6 |
| 20 | 24.8 |
| 20.9 | 24.7 |
| 17.2 | 19.4 |
| 16.5 | 19.1 |
| 13.8 | 16.2 |
| 12.7 | 16.1 |
| 16 | 19 |
| Year ended June | Percent |
| 2013 | 26.9 |
| 2014 | 27.3 |
| 2015 | 27.2 |
| 2016 | 24.3 |
| 2017 | 22.4 |
| 2018 | 22.8 |
| 2019 | 18.3 |
| 2020 | 17.8 |
| 2021 | 15 |
| 2022 R | 14.4 |
| 2023 | 17.5 |
Material hardship
In the year ended June 2023, 12.5 percent of children lived in a household experiencing material hardship. This was a statistically significant increase of 2.0 percentage points from the previous year, and not significantly different from the baseline year ended June 2018.
A household is defined as being in material hardship if it lacks six or more of 17 items on the DEP-17 index (the list of 17 deprivation items). The material deprivation measures of child poverty determine the proportion of children who live in households that cannot afford specific items that most people regard as essential.
Examples of items on the DEP-17 index include:
- unable to afford fresh fruit or vegetables
- having to put up with feeling cold
- unable to afford an unexpected $500 expense
- having to buy cheaper or less meat
- putting off doctor's visits
- unable to pay for car upkeep
- unable to pay for utilities on time
- unable to replace or repair broken appliances.
Measuring child poverty: Material hardship has a full list of the DEP-17 items.
| Year ended June | Percent |
| 2013 | 18.1 |
| 2014 | 16 |
| 2015 | 17.5 |
| 2016 | 12.1 |
| 2017 | 12.7 |
| 2018 | 13.3 |
| 2019 | 13.2 |
| 2020 | 11.5 |
| 2021 | 11 |
| 2022 R | 10.5 |
| 2023 | 12.5 |
| 13.8 | 22.4 |
|---|---|
| 12.2 | 19.8 |
| 13.2 | 21.8 |
| 8.5 | 15.7 |
| 10.3 | 15.1 |
| 11 | 15.6 |
| 12.1 | 14.3 |
| 10.4 | 12.6 |
| 10 | 12 |
| 9 | 12 |
| 11.3 | 13.7 |
Technical enquiries
Wolf Truong
04 931 4600
[email protected]
ISSN 2624-2915
Next release
Child poverty statistics: Year ended June 2024 will be released in 2025.
