In Australia, the poverty line is typically set at 50% of the median household income, meaning it changes with average earnings, with recent figures (around 2022-2023) placing it roughly at $584/week for a single adult and $1,226/week for a couple with two children, though these figures fluctuate and are often adjusted for housing costs, showing deeper poverty when housing is included.
The poverty line is $584 a week for a single adult and $1,226 a week for a couple with two children. More than one in seven people in Australia (14.2%) live below the poverty line . That amounts to 3,706,000 people. One in six children (15.6%) live in poverty.
“JobSeeker and other Centrelink payments are languishing far below the poverty line. People trying to live on these payments are bearing the brunt of soaring rents, rising living costs, and a safety net that isn't keeping up.
Individuals, families and groups in the population can be said to be in poverty when they lack resources to obtain the type of diet, participate in the activities and have the living conditions and amenities which are customary, or at least widely encouraged and approved, in the societies in which they belong.
The poverty line in Australia is generally defined as 50 per cent of median household income. If someone was earning less than the below amounts (including a government income) in 2022, they were classed as below the poverty line: $454 a week for a single person. $725 for a sole parent with two children.
Poverty is a condition or state that describes a lack of financial means to either meet one's basic needs or attain a quality of life much beyond basic needs. There are four kinds of poverty typically discussed: absolute, relative, situational, and generational.
Starting October 1, 2025, the maximum allotment for one person is $298 per month. The maximum allotment for a four person family is $994. The chart below is effective 10/1/2025 for the Thrifty Food Plan maximum allotment amounts based on household size.
The World Bank classifies economies for analytical purposes into four income groups: low, lower-middle, upper-middle, and high income.
Low income in Australia is generally defined as earning less than 50% of the median household income, which translates to roughly under $584/week for a single person or around $1,226/week for a couple with two children, though figures vary and government support has specific thresholds, like the $37,000 cap for the superannuation tax offset. Official poverty lines are set at half the median income, but factors like location (e.g., Sydney) and living costs significantly impact what's considered "low" in practice.
The maximum amount that a single pensioner could get from the Australian Age Pension was $1,144.40 per fortnight ($572.20 per week), which was below the poverty line of $612.47 per week for a single person.
Yes, homeless people can get Centrelink payments, including income support, advance payments, and crisis payments for extreme situations like fire or flood, with support available for finding housing and linking with social workers to navigate entitlements and services. While having a fixed address can be tricky, you can often use a homelessness service, shelter, or social worker's address as a contact point to receive mail and get assistance with applications, with Centrelink having workarounds for those without a permanent home.
Our Poverty in Australia 2025: Overview found that there are 3.7 million people (14.2%) living below the poverty line of 50% of median income, including 757,000 children (15.6%). In dollar figures, the poverty line works out to $584 a week for a single adult and $1,226 a week for a couple with 2 children.
In 2025, the federal minimum wage is officially a “poverty wage.” The annual earnings of a single adult working full-time, year-round at $7.25 an hour now fall below the poverty threshold of $15,650 (established by the Department of Health and Human Services guidelines).
The middle class falls in-between. In 2022 the median income in Australia was $65,000 a year according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Anyone making less than this amount would be considered working class. Anyone making more than $137,000 falls in the top 10% which is considered upper class.
Gross monthly income is the total amount of money you earn in one month before any deductions—like taxes, Social Security, health insurance, or retirement contributions—are taken out: Lenders use it to measure whether you can afford a mortgage, car loan, or credit card.
Low pay is defined every year in relation to the cost of living by the Minimum Income Standard Project. By their calculations, for a single person household anything less than £28,000 a year, before tax, counts as low pay.
1. In this fact sheet, poverty is defined as family income less than 100 percent of the federal poverty threshold, as determined by the U.S. Census Bureau; low income is defined as family income less than 200 percent of the poverty threshold. 2. The U.S. Census Bureau issues the poverty thresholds annually.
Poverty statistics exclude people living in hidden poverty, which occurs when an individual earns above the poverty line, but cannot afford adequate food, hydro bills, childcare, or other basic necessities.
Poverty refers to a lack of the necessities of life—food, shelter and clothing.
Collier attributes the extreme poverty of the fifty-eight countries that harbor the poorest billion individuals to one, or a combination, of four “traps”: a conflict trap, a natural resources trap, the trap of being landlocked with bad neighbors, and a poor governance trap.
According to the most recent report issued in January 2023, the poverty threshold for a family of four is $29,960. For an individual, the poverty threshold is $14,891. The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issues its poverty guidelines based on the Census Bureau's poverty thresholds.
Low income households are those households with a combined gross income of less than $800 per week before tax in 2021. This threshold was chosen because it is close to the bottom 25% of households Australia-wide.
South Sudan is widely considered the poorest country in the world in 2025-2026, consistently ranking first due to extremely low GDP per capita and a high percentage (over 80%) of its population living in extreme poverty, driven by prolonged civil conflict, displacement, and disruption of its agricultural economy. Other nations frequently cited as among the poorest include Burundi, the Central African Republic, and Yemen, also suffering from conflict and instability.