Source: The Weekend Australian, 16 August, 1997,
(Australia Today: An 8-page special) p.4 Source: The Weekend Australian, 16 August, 1997,
(Australia Today: An 8-page special) p.4
AUSTRALIANS are spending a greater proportion of their income on recreation and household services such as cleaning, ironing and gardening than in the past, according to the latest analysis of household expenditure. Families now spend an average of $78 a week on recreation compared with $59.37 in 1988- 89 and $43.13 in 1984. They also spend $31.61 on the upkeep and maintenance of their house, compared with $24.11 in 1988-89 and $15.70 in 1984. But household expenditure data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that the greatest expenses remain food ($111), transport ($91) and housing ($82). The average food bill includes $17 a week on dining out, $12 a week on take-away food, $18 on meat and seafood and $14 on fruit, nuts and vegetables. The transport budget, especially when compared with the amount spent on housing, at first appears to be very high. But under the ABS definition it includes car repayments ($27 a week), petrol ($26), registration and insurance ($15), and taxi and public transport fares ($6). Conducted from July 1993 to June 1994, the survey reveals that families spend an average of $593 a week on goods and services, an increase of 18 per cent from the previous survey in 1988-89. Other main expenditure items are medical and health expenses ($27.16 a week), clothing and footwear ($33.72), alcohol ($71.47) and fuel and power ($16.77). There is, of course, an enormous difference between the spending patterns of the rich and poor, with families in the lowest income quintile spending an average of $301 a week and households in the highest quin- tile, $983 a week. According to the ABS, low- income families spend a greater proportion of their income on food, housing, fuel and power, while high income families spend comparatively more on transport, clothing, alcohol and recreation. These differences are partly explained by the socio-economic status of those surveyed-low- income earners have little left over for luxuries-but it is also explained by the demographic characteristics of the households concerned. Almost two-thirds of people with the lowest income are living by themselves, many of them aged pensioners who have very low housing costs (because they own their homes) and generally modest spending habits. Not surprisingly, couples with dependent children spend the most on household services- about $45 a week. Couples aged 45 to 55 with grown children spend the most on recreation-more than $120 a week. An analysis of spending across the States and Territories yields less predictable findings as Northern Territor-ians and residents of the ACT have the highest levels of expenditure ($698 and $742 respectively), followed by NSW at $611 and Victoria at $596. The lowest were Tasmania ($530) and South Australia ($546). -MICHELLE GUNN
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