Indicator: Family Income

Status:

What we know from research

What the data indicates about Mildura
FAMILY INCOME
Low income is interwoven with the influence of other forms of disadvantage. It can be the consequence of factors like limited education, limited skills and poor health that serve to amplify individual and communal problems like mental illness, crime and child maltreatment. Much recent research has emphasised the importance of relative inequality of income and people’s consciousness of their comparative position rather than the direct effects of material standards.
A family income of less than $600 per week attracts some forms of governmental assistance and is often used as an indicator of relatively low income. By that standard a higher proportion of families throughout the Mildura region than in Melbourne have low family incomes (between approximately 27% and 36% compared with 22%). However, with the exception of Wentworth (35.9%), the proportion of low- income families in the Mildura sub-regions was closer to the Regional Victoria rate of 30.7%. That similarity was sustained at the high-income level ($1,200 per week or more) but the contrast with Melbourne was more marked. The proportion of families with high incomes across Regional Victoria was a little under 14% compared with 25.5% in Melbourne.

FAMILY INCOMES BY LOCALITIES
Source: Table B30 2001 Census of Population and Housing

Legend
	Upward trend			Progress away from desired direction
	Downward trend
	No observable trend		Progress towards desired direction
	Under construction

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Last Updated: Tuesday, 6 February 2007