This paper identifies nine psychosocial factors that explain reliance on income support from one generation to the next. Psychosocial factors are defined as psychological development and social factors and the relationship and interaction between the two. Each of the nine factors is discussed in turn, including the relationship between the factor and income support reliance...

The most effective way to reduce poverty and marginalisation in society is through education, which results in high employment, greater expendable income capable of supporting a welfare system and increased personal leisure time; this leads to social stability and optimal conditions for good population health.

This study of the BSL and Community Sector Banking’s personal loan pilot, which provided small loans to purchase household goods and services, points to the creditworthiness of a group of people on low incomes. For many participants, obtaining a loan was not only about money, but also about dignity and inclusion. The report recommends that...

Between 1995 and mid-2001 there was a large increase in the number of penalties imposed on income support recipients for breaches of social security rules and requirements. Tony Eardley, Jude Brown, Margot Rawsthorne, Kate Norris and Liz Emrys found, among other things, that it tends to be the more disadvantaged job seekers who face the...

Peter Siminski and Peter Saunders present regional comparisons of income both before and after housing costs, derived from the latest (1998-99) Household Expenditure Survey and from the 2001 Census. Both sources indicate that while the percentage of people in low-income households is lower in major urban locations than in the rest of Australia, these differences...