The table gives a breakdown of the different types of family who
were living in poverty in Australia in 1999.
On average, 11% of all households, comprising almost two
million people, were in this position. However, those consisting of
only one parent or a single adult had almost double this proportion
of poor people, with 21% and 19% respectively.
Couples generally tended to be better off, with lower poverty levels
for couples without children (7%) than those with children (12%).
It is noticeable that for both types of household with
children, a higher than average proportion were living in poverty at this time.
Older people were generally less likely to be poor, though once again
the trend favoured elderly couples (only 4%) rather than single elderly people (6%).
Overall the table suggests that households of single adults and those
with children were more likely to be living in poverty than those consisting of couples.