An Examination of Income Inequality in Australia: Causes and Impacts

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of income inequality in Australia, examining its historical context, trends, and contributing factors. The introduction highlights the growing disparity in income distribution, referencing data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The discussion delves into measurement tools like the Gini coefficient and the impact of income inequality on the middle class, supported by statistical data. The essay explores the polarization of income, the roles of welfare and tax regimes, and the impact of economic crises on inequality. It concludes that the unequal distribution of wealth has become a significant social problem. The essay emphasizes the widening gap in income distribution and the challenges faced by the middle class, with an overview of the causes and effects, supported by data and analysis. The essay examines the relationship between wealth inequality and opportunities in Australia, drawing on figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. It highlights the impacts of inequality on the economy and the society.

Running head: ANCIENT HISTORY
Ancient History
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ANCIENT HISTORY
Introduction
There has been an increasing number of the literary context regarding the
administration of the capital of the country , Australia. As per the last few decades, the
context of income distribution in Australia has come under the highlight just like some of the
other OECD countries that has been growing and expanding in a rapid rate. The result of the
survey by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) revealed the analysis regarding the
facilitation regarding the gathering of the information related to the income scattering within
the country. The people residing in the country had been facing numerous challenges from
the year 1970, regarding the problems that are connected and related to the conventional
wisdom that are furthermore linked towards the aspects regarding the scarcity rather than the
successful attainment of the methods towards the managing of the affluence (Australian
Bureau of Statistics, Australian Government. 2019). The period post of war witnessed
numerous changes including the development of the new world with the inclusion of the
concerns related to dominance and the ideas including the past regarding the diminishing
significances that targets the rampant figure of inequality within the country. Numerous
evidences and reasons have raised regarding the modern society despite of the interest on the
subject of the inequality as one of the major part of the issues related to the economies in the
country (Chatterjee, Singh and Stone 2016). The context of the inequality was not at all
getting the worse scenario but had still been profound in nature. One of the major portion of
the population in the country sensed the level of the rate of the inequality in the country
lining with the context of the level of the security. This scenario are best described by the
transformation theory indicating the factor of the industrialization in the country for which
the citizens residing in the country were forced to move from the domain of agriculture to
that of the industry (Coelli and Borland 2016). There has been an increasing rate of
confusion accompanying the increased rate of wealth that has spread through out the country.

2ANCIENT HISTORY
Though numerous of the studies has elaborated the increase in the dispersion of the income in
the country, some of the other studies assets the falling level of inequality. The essay targets
to go through the concept of the increasing rate of the inequality among the inhabitants
residing in Australia.
Discussion
The measurement units
One of the major factor that has been long considered as the tool or the index of the
materialistic wellbeing in the country is the Income (Beer et al. 2016). The issues or the
difficulties that are generally linked or associated with the development and the obtaining of
the tools that are comprehensive in nature targeting the materialistic nature of the well being
are basically numerous in nature. One of the main factor for this scenario being the cost.
The conflict source
Researches related to the inequality of the capital of the individual or the income can
never be brought under thorough comparison. This particular context tends to occur for some
of the various reasons and are basically the fundamental explanations regarding the data
conflicts (Mendolia and Siminski 2016). The measurements or the tools that serves as the
best and effective measurements in the case of the measurements units in this scenario are the
Lorenz Curve, the Gini Coefficient, Hoover Index and more.
The technique of the measurement of inequality
Numerous methods are there for initiating the measurement of the inequality of the
income. It includes the variance, the range, the variation coefficient, the Atkinson Index, the
standard deviation and the most common one, the Gini Coefficient. The factor of the relative
dispersion is been illustrated by the coefficient of variation in the context of the outcomes

3ANCIENT HISTORY
around the mean. The ratio on the context of the standard deviation (s) to the sample mean
(m) expressed as the percentage is the main definition of the coefficient of the variation. The
coefficient of variation can be described as below:
C. V = s/m * 100
This coefficient of variation adjusts with the results incurred from the variation for the
scale that has been used in the aim that the scale is free of the unit.
The information on the increasing level of inequality
As per the data gathered from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the inhabitants of
Australia specially the middle class of the people are losing their chances of mobility and has
been shrinking for the reversal regarding one of the major important social reforms in the
20th century. As per the research data, the richest of the Australians have been long capturing
the two third of the capital through out the last 15 years of the new and innovative household
structures (Steffen et al. 2015). This particular scenario had been a very bad news for the
lower and the middle class people residing in the country.
The Bureau of Statistics of the country illustrated and highlighted some of the
innovative and new figures regarding the distribution of the income of the household and the
rate of the spending of the capital or the wealth on the household have increased by the
percent of 130 in the top fifth of the household while only a nominal amount of 50 percentage
amongst the low income households within the range of the year 2003-2004 to 2017-2018
(Mendolia and Siminski 2016).
The assignment targets to highlight the group of the individual who resides in
between the rich community and the poor community. This has been one of the major
concern since the middle class or the category of the community people have increased their
per capita income due to the rise of the capital or wealth of the country (Fenna and Tapper

4ANCIENT HISTORY
2015). Furthermore the issue problem or the issue lies on the instance that share of the middle
class people was in the rate of decrease.
The data gathered from the census regarding the last eight years, there has been an
increase level of the inequality that has made hard for the class to rise together with the
inheritance that became more of the determinant regarding the future (Fleming and Measham
2015). The level of the wealth inequality has proven to be inversely proportion to the
equality of the upcoming chances and opportunity.
Figure: The share of the capital and the asset by the net worth in the country
Source: (Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian Government. 2019)

5ANCIENT HISTORY
As per the above figure regarding the information by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, it
has been revealed that the increasing level of inequality among inhabitants or the country’s
citizen targets the notion that the poor people of country are drowning to be poorer while the
rich people are increasingly getting richer.
Inequality
One big social issue that has been harmful to the society is the context of inequality.
Individuals in the country having very low level of income often have the tendency of being
left behind. Australia has witnessed immense growth post the era of 1970 in its overall gross
domestic product. It has also witnessed that the individuals of the community residing in the
country has been increasingly facing inequality in terms of wealth or capital distribution.
Widening the gap of inequality has been the worse sign for the economy of Australia
(Burkhauser et al. 2015). Furthermore the country had been experiencing high rates of
inequality for the purpose of the concentration of the powers and the resources in a veryfew
hands.
In the scenario of the paid workforce, it has been noted that the inhabitants of the
country were acting too impoverished in the case of the effective participation. There lies two
of the major ways regarding the measurement of the inequality of the country. There lies both
the wealth inequality and income inequality. According to reports and the analysis of the
research by Inglehart and Norris (2016) the inequality in the context of wealth is higher in
Australia as compared to the inequality of income.
The polarization regarding the distribution of income
Various research studies have taken place by numerous of the scholars in the aim of
the investigation for the extent towards which income inequality was the main concern for the
low income of the community of people who falls under the poverty line (Stapleton, Sorrell

6ANCIENT HISTORY
and Schwanen 2017). The aspect regarding the relative high rate of income for the individual
who are comparatively rich in the country are some of the factors that has been in highlight.
Furthermore the societies has been facing the increasing level regarding the up gradation and
the inequality and that the level of the upgrading tends to take precedence regarding the
decreased grading due to the cause of the polarization. Information or the data furthermore
revealed that the individuals who are well off and better off have higher chances regarding
the becoming richer (Borland and Coelli 2016). The net share of the total income of Australia
has been taken up by 10 percent and has furthermore decreased from 50 in the year 1929 and
1932. The data furthermore revealed how it diminished to 35 percent in the year 2007 and
increased as 50 percent.
Welfare and Tax regime
The income inequality in Australia has witnessed a rising level of the growth that
furthermore tends to have significant fosteration by the level of the inequality in the income
of the market. The widening of the gap of inequality within the time frame of 1979 to 2004
was furthermore caused by high rate of tax and accelerated level of the generosity in the
context of the social assistance and the employment assistance (Clark, Flèche and Senik
2016). The inequality in the market of the income intend to grew at a rapid pace for welfare
and the programme of tax in the aim of the reduction in the effect of the polarization.
In the economic crisis of the year 197 to 1975, Australia has contributed to the
country’s inequality at a large. The eruption of the economic crisis was just after the re
election of the government of Whitlam Labour in the year 1974. During the era, the
governmental policies in Australia were at the place of the swing starting from the stimulus
of the Keynesian austerity regarding the scenario of the struggle regarding the minister of the
policy (Knoll, Schularick and Steger 2017).

7ANCIENT HISTORY
The Measurements
Australia had a strong and an organized unions of the trade and targeted the relevant
attempts regarding the unions defence for the wage rise that may have sustained in the value
of main and original price. In the year 1983,it all ended and furthermore, the political
impasses was followed by the labour government election for the restructuration and the
unprecedented of the economy.
Together with the wage policies, the country’s government were able to restructure the
taxation business of the policies thus implemented (Kennedy et al. 2017). Besides these
factors, the reduction of the statutory rate of tax about 47 percent at the year 1983 and also at
the year 1996 with 36 %t has come over the highlight.
Conclusion
Hence it is to be concluded that scattering and the distribution of wealth or the income
in the country of the Australia has been highlighted to widen the gap of the unequal
distribution after the era of 1970. As demonstrated and analysed regarding the measurement
of Gini coefficient and the curvature of the inequality in income it is thoroughly evident
regarding the inequality among the revenue or the income of the community people of the
country have increased resulting a big social problem due to its harmful structures and
effects. People residing in the country with a very low level of income often tends to get
discriminated and left behind. The period post of war witnessed numerous changes including
the development of the new world with the inclusion of the concerns related to dominance
and the ideas including the past regarding the diminishing significances that targets the
rampant figure of inequality within the country. Numerous evidences and reasons have raised
regarding the modern society despite of the interest on the subject of the inequality as one of
the major part of the issues related to the economies in the country. The assignment essay

8ANCIENT HISTORY
highlighted and explored the context of the increasing levels of the rate of inequality among
the Australian inhabitants as one of the major social concern that has been affecting the
country overall.

9ANCIENT HISTORY
Reference/ Bibliography
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10ANCIENT HISTORY
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