Justice, Opportunity and Shared Wealth for all South Australians
For many people, such as those low income families struggling to send children to school, or adults in post-secondary education living on Youth Allowances, Austudy or Abstudy, education expenditure is important and a basic necessity. Indeed, given the importance of education and the sacrifices many parents make for children, it is an expenditure which will often be prioritised over other household essentials.
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Insurance is not one of the focus areas focused on in previous SACOSS Cost of Living Reports. In
part this is because insurance is not a top level category in the ABS household expenditure data,
so insurance costs tend to be hidden as part of housing, health, transport and other categories.
However, when all the various insurance expenditures are added together, insurance accounts for
a greater proportion of household expenditure than key cost of living areas like utilities and health.
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Having access to affordable utilities like electricity, gas, water and sewerage is a necessity and basic right of people living in a modern society. Those services are important to health and wellbeing, and lack of access to those services is a barrier to social participation.
Download Cost of Living Update No. 12
For renters on low incomes fixed to CPI, rent is becoming an increasing burden on the household budget. The clear trend that the sorts of housing stress indicated in the 2009-10 HES expenditure figures are getting worse as rent rises outstrip income. This is a particular problem because, given the large proportion of welfare recipients’ income which can be dedicated to paying rent, these price rises represent a major problem and a potential driver of poverty and homelessness.
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Price is not the only issue in relation to accessibility of transport for low income households, and transport prices are not a major driver of cost of living pressures. However, a detailed look at transport prices does show that there are still areas of concern with rising transport prices still contributing to cost of living pressures in particular low income households.
Download Cost of Living Update No. 10...
It is clear that health costs impact disproportionately on those on low incomes (although actual expenditure is more in the higher income brackets – meaning that increasing prices also effect better-off households). However, the cost of health care is not just an important cost of living issue, it has direct implications for the health outcomes of people.
Download Cost of Living Update No. 9
To coincide with the SACOSS Cost of Living Summit the September Quarter Update provides the regular update of changes in the last quarter, followed by a post-Summit report.
Download Cost of Living Update No. 8
Download Cost of Living Summit Report
The cost of essential goods and services—utilities, healthy food, housing and health are rising incredibly fast. The overall generic Consumer Price Index (CPI) never gives the real picture of those critical day-to-day expenses.
Download Cost of Living Update No. 7
Data shows that food generally is going up faster than the inflation rate, and that healthy foods have gone up even more than food prices generally.
Download Cost of Living Update No. 6
