The Growth of Income and Employment Inequality in Australian Cities
01 Jan 2001-
About: The article was published on 2001-01-01 and is currently open access. It has received 9 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Income inequality metrics & Income distribution.
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01 Jan 2000
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors use census tract data to analyse changes in neighbourhood income inequality and residential economic segregation in the eight largest Canadian cities during the 1980-95 period and find that economic spatial segregation increased in all cities and was the major factor behind rising neighbourhood inequality in four of the eight cities.
Abstract: In this paper, we use census tract data to analyse changes in neighbourhood income inequality and residential economic segregation in the eight largest Canadian cities during the 1980-95 period. Is the income gap between richer and poorer neighbourhoods rising? Are high and low-income families increasingly clustered in economically homogeneous neighbourhoods? The main results are an elaboration of the spatial implications of the well documented changes that have occurred in family income and earnings inequality since 1980. We find that between neighbourhood family income (post-transfer/pre-tax) inequality rose in all cities driven by a substantial rise in neighbourhood (employment) earnings inequality. Real average earnings fell, sometimes dramatically, in low-income neighbourhoods in virtually all cities while rising moderately in higher income neighbourhoods. Strikingly, social transfers, which were the main factor stabilizing national level income inequality in the face of rising earnings inequality, had only a modest impact on changes in neighbourhood inequality. Changes in the neighbourhood distribution of earnings signal significant change in the social and economic character of many neighbourhoods. Employment was increasingly concentrated in higher income communities and unemployment in lower income neighbourhoods. Finally, we ask whether neighbourhood inequality rose primarily as a result of rising family income inequality in the city as a whole or because families were increasingly sorting themselves into "like" neighbourhoods so that neighbourhoods were becoming more economically homogeneous (economic "segregation"). We find that economic spatial segregation increased in all cities and was the major factor behind rising neighbourhood inequality in four of the eight cities. A general rise in urban family income inequality was the main factor in the remaining four cities.
52 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors presented the first Australian estimates of poverty rates for different types of families at a local level, showing that people living by themselves and sole parents have the highest poverty rates.
Abstract: There is a substantial literature within Australia examining poverty rates for different family types at the national level. This study presents the first Australian estimates of poverty rates for different types of families at a local level. This paper builds upon the SpatialMSM/08B model, which fuses together data from the 2006 Australian Bureau of Statistics Census of Population and Housing and the 2002–03 and 2003–04 Surveys of Income and Housing. We examine differences in rates of income poverty for lone persons, sole parents, couples and couples with children. The results show that people living by themselves and sole parents have the highest poverty rates. In addition, there are pronounced spatial differences in the poverty rates of people living in different family situations, although the highest poverty rates for all family types tend to be in Australia’s rural areas, with poverty clusters in most of the capital cities.
44 citations
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors developed a composite index of child social exclusion risk for Australian small areas, using 2006 Australian Bureau of Statistics Census data, and building on earlier work based on 2001 Census data.
Abstract: Much research about child poverty and disadvantage provides national estimates of child wellbeing, due to the ready availability of microdata at the national level. However, an increasing body of evidence suggests that there can be major differences in wellbeing between children living in different geographic areas. In addition, much recent debate has focussed on moving beyond income poverty to broader measures of social exclusion. This article describes the development of a composite index of child social exclusion risk for Australian small areas, using 2006 Australian Bureau of Statistics Census data, and building on earlier work based on 2001 Census data. Variables included in the index are based on characteristics of children's parents, families and households, and include data about parental partnership status, employment and volunteerism, family educational attainment and occupation, household income, housing, transport and internet connection. Results show that there are pronounced spatial differences in the risk of child social exclusion, with areas of high social exclusion risk common in Australia's rural and regional balance, and in clusters of outer areas in most of Australia's capital cities.
34 citations
19 Sep 2007
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe the use of spatial microsimulation techniques to examine differences in income poverty at a small area level in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory.
Abstract: This paper describes the use of spatial microsimulation techniques to examine differences in income poverty at a small area level in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory. This paper provides details of methodology, along with some initial results demonstrating substantial geographic differences in the distribution of income poverty. There is increasing interest in Australia and internationally about geographic differences in advantage and disadvantage. This paper describes the use of spatial microsimulation techniques to examine differences in income poverty at a small area level in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory. The spatial microsimulation methodology used in this study involves reweighting data from income surveys to small area benchmarks derived from the Australian census. This paper provides details of this methodology, along with some initial results demonstrating substantial geographic differences in the distribution of income poverty. The paper concludes by outlining future extensions to this work.
29 citations
29 Nov 2013
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated whether children in regional areas experience a "tyranny of distance" or a "triviality" due to their distance from the major cities, or is it because many regional areas are disadvantaged compared to the cities.
Abstract: This research report investigates whether children in regional areas experience a "tyranny of distance" or a "tyranny of disadvantage". In other words, are the gaps in children's development in regional areas compared to children living in the major cities explained by their distance from the major cities (remoteness), or is it because many regional areas are disadvantaged compared to the cities? The analyses make use of data from Growing up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) to report on differences in family demographic and economic characteristics, parent wellbeing and parenting style, family social capital and access to services, and children's educational activities, and to relate those differences to how children are developing. The study includes children aged from 0-1 up to 8-9 years old.
15 citations