GOVT's new parametres aroung CCR........means tested?

[AnyDream]

Really is difficult to generalize this at all because where you live makes a huge impact on how much money is left after spending on rent or mortgage etc, and the economy needs people to live in all different places so is not like we can all just choose to live where is cheaper. Any generalization such as a definition of middle income over such a wide number of variables tends to make the generalization of limited value.

I would tend to think that 80K would be middle income, and 150K+ high income - I certainly wouldn't think of 150K+ as middle income - just looking at the sort of jobs that offer 75K a year and then thinking about how many families in Australia would have two people in those sorts of jobs to give combined of 150K (or even an 100 + 50, or one 150K) I would think that if 150K+ was middle income that would put something like 75% of Australians into low income households, as simply not enough of those higher paying jobs.

Also just looking at Median household income (all incomes in a line pick the middle one) in 2007/2008 was 66,890 so has probably gone up a bit since then but not to the realms of 150K+. (google median household on wiki - there is also an interesting table showing differences between Median in the different states, (ACT nearly double TAS).

Yes but median household income is not necessarily a good measure of what's going on for families with children because it includes low income groups like retirees who look like they're earning diddly squat but in actual fact are loads wealthier and better off than everyone else. Having said that, based on all the reading I've done (with lots of sets of figures) I do think that $80K is probably in the middle income area-ish and $150K is getting into the higher income area-ish.

There is some really interesting reading here: Family economic wellbeing which sets out income and affordability issues specific to families in Australia.

I find it all fascinating because I look at our income on paper (since I went back to work) and i think, that should be paying for more than it is!!! But I know we're still recovering from the time when I was ill and we had less income and more expenses as a result. I've been back at work for 8 months and my income is only just starting to "touch the sides" after all this time. I don't want to whinge because I know we're much better off than when I was a SAHM with DD1 (and a lot fewer resources) but it has been really tough at times too.