Poverty Among Young Australians.

In this article the incidence of poverty among the young is explained in terms of their labour force experience, educational attainment, gender, and living arrangements. The availability of the Australian Longitudinal Survey data enables the incomes of individuals to be related to many other socioeconomic variables over a number of years. Generally the poor do not have high levels of education. About half of those classified as poor, endured a poverty spell of one year. But less than five per cent of the poor were so in each of the four survey years. Many of the poor were studying. Their low current incomes were presumably endured in the anticipation of high future earnings. The young women who were poor, many with children, were typically living in households offering them no additional financial support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]