Typical Australian households` real after-tax income has not increased significantly since 2009, according to the Melbourne Institute`s latest Australian Household income and Labor Dynamics study, (HILDA), according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Real income for Australians rose 1.8 percent between 2015 and 2016 and 29 percent between 2003 and 2009, the report said. Another good news is that income imbalances have remained relatively stable since the HILDA survey was launched in 2001.
Professor Roger Wilkins, co-author of the report, said the income of the high-income group did increase, but overall income distribution changed little among the other 99 percent of the low-income population.
One reason for the stagnation in household income growth is reported to be the growing prevalence of part-time jobs and underemployment. For men between the ages of 18 and 64, part-time employment rose from more than 10 percent to about 14 percent, while full-time employment fell from 73.3 percent in 2008 to 67 percent in 2016. The full-time employment rate for women aged 18 to 64 is also slightly below the pre-crisis peak of 40 per cent. At the same time, underemployment is most common among people under 24 years of age, full-time students, non-English-speaking immigrants, high school students, singles and people with moderate or severe disabilities.
In addition, the report says higher education has not narrowed the gender gap. Between 2001 and 2016, the average weekly income of male full-time employees increased by 23 percent and that of women by 22 percent, indicating that the pay gap remained essentially unchanged. Although the percentage of women with higher education degrees is higher than that of men.
The HILDA data, which provide social and financial details of more than 16,999 Australians a year, is closely watched by the Reserve Bank and other policy makers. (intern Zhang Linwan)
