(December 2, 2012 at 9:00 pm)Daniel Wrote: Define "unlikely"? Australians generally don't have a large expendable income to start off with. Gambling addiction, Alcohol dependence, Drug addiction, etc, can all play a significant role into forcing families to struggle. We have a very high cost of living, often people move from one state to another, are left with no money and then find it difficult to find the work they were expecting. With a family this can cause great struggles. Medical expenses can also cause a family to go into great debt. Being unable to work due to medical reasons or injury. Loosing your job, and being unable to find another that pays the same wage. High property prices combined with our high interest rates can cause families to struggle to make ends meet. Rising cost of living (unexpectedly higher utilities bills), high cost of groceries, expenses at Christmas can all contribute to cause families to struggle. Uninsured vehicles being totalled. We have a huge variety of avenues that cause people to struggle.
Well let me start off by stating that the ABS estimated that the annual salary of all workers in Australia to be AUD 55,000, while in the
United States it slightly less than USD 40,000. Even accounting for an overvalued Australian dollar, Australian workers are getting paid slightly more than their American counterparts.
Secondly, in really struggling I meant people having to go to food-banks or soup kitchens in order to get enough to eat.
Thirdly, given our overvalued dollar it is hard to accurate compare the cost of living in Australia in comparison to other Western Countries. I can concede our cost of living overall is higher than other western nations. However taxes in Australia are quite low in comparison to other western nations (expect the United States). Also not to mention Australian families not having to face personal bankruptcy in the event of major medical treatment, which happens a lot in the United States. Because many families can afford health insurance, even if they have jobs.
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