The Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre's new Behind the Line report provides the latest examination of the prevalence of poverty within Australia, how this has changed over time, and which groups in society face the greatest risks of financial hardship and material deprivation.
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The release of the report coincides with International Women's Day, and it couldn't be more relevant that many of the findings speak directly to the financial hardships and pressures that many women in Australia face.
The Centre's analysis reveals that just under 3 million people in Australia live on less than half of the median income for Australia - a standard definition used to classify poverty.
This represents nearly 11.8 per cent of the population, and includes nearly 750,000 children.
But there is a gender gap in poverty, and it is especially pronounced for younger single women and those approaching retirement.
Two-thirds of single women aged 55 and over in private rental accommodation are classed as living in poverty, and it's not unusual for people who are either unemployed or not in the labour force to have to survive on less than $100 per week once housing costs have been paid.
That's because JobSeeker payments and the maximum entitlement to Commonwealth Rent Assistance together provide a total of $386.15 per week in income support.
Even if recipients can find rental accommodation at $250 per week - and good luck with that - they would be left with only $136 per week to live on.
And if their rents were pushed to $300 per week, which wouldn't be unusual in the current market, that leaves just $86 per week to cover all other food, travel, bills and all other expenses.
This reality surely survives any semantic debates about where the poverty line should be set, or how it's been calculated.
But the impacts of financial hardship are often hidden behind the line.
For some people, the journey into poverty can be triggered by a life event that substantially changes their financial situation and outlook.
Circumstances change substantially for people who suffer relationship breakdown or the death of a partner. People lose their jobs or retire, and each of these events have profound impacts on people's economic security and wellbeing.
Both partners are at greater risk of poverty when relationships break down, but the effects are both more severe and more enduring for women.
The Behind the Line report estimates that the risk of moving into poverty is three times higher for women than for men following separation or divorce.
And women suffer adverse financial impacts from divorce or separation for longer.
Our research shows that poverty has a greater and more persistent impact on the health and wellbeing of women, their economic security, and their ability to safely participate in our community as equals.
Raising children and young people or caring for ageing parents becomes dramatically harder with poverty - and the knock-on impacts to the wellbeing of others is increased.
If you care about gender equity and women's economic security, then you should really care about poverty - because it impacts disproportionately on women.
Poverty is a critical issue for Australia in its own right.
But winning the fight against poverty, not least through adequate income support, will also make an important contribution to women's economic security.
- Professor Alan Duncan is Director of the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre at Curtin University.
