Are you REALLY a middle income household?

[SunnyRain]

Simply put, it's dividing your disposable income by the number of people in the house (given a weighted value).


But what if you have 2 adults contributing equally? They should both have a value of 1.0

Anyway, I'm clueless about how much (or little) dh earns. I suspect if I didn't have savings we'd be living on the street, quite honestly.

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Jude 07/10/08 | Lilac 16/06/11

[Rowellen]

But what if you have 2 adults contributing equally? They should both have a value of 1.0

I think it has more to do with how much an extra adult would "cost" rather than how much they contribute. ie the cost of the second adult's food & clothes but not fixed costs like rent. ITMS

[Gigi]

i can't work out that formula, but think i know where i would be classed anyhoo.

[AnyDream]

Just bumping this thread as it may be of interest with the current issue around PHI rebates/Medicary levy increases.

[sushee]

It's interesting how they calculate disposable income in that formula. Or that a child is not considered unless they live with you, even if you provide for the child/ren.

[AnyDream]

I'm sure this is only one measure that is used out of a number of things that create an much more detailed picture. I think non-residing children aren't included because this is a measure that is used across populations, and so you'd only want to count each child once (in the household where they live) otherwise it would skew the population figures.

FWIW it probably doesn't address a lot of things, like spouses that work away some of the time, or children that technically still live with you but are actually away at university, or a family member who is in hospital or residential care for extended periods. But as a broad measure, still interesting, I think.

[sushee]

It is interesting. And a little scary, because it apparently puts me and DP in a bracket I didn't think we were in.

We live in a rented townhouse in Brunswick. We own one car - a 2006 corolla. I own an investment property in Perth but also a sizeable mortgage to go with it. We have debt. I have 4 children that I variously support even though none of them live with me.

I would have thought I was comfortably middle class at best. But no, we're apparently rolling in it with the Murdochs and the Rineharts, except I can't see the 'it' we're rolling in.

Who knew?

[~*Niadalla*~]

Low income here. Just over the 20% percentile. A bit scary to think about really.

[AnyDream]

Simply put, it's dividing your disposable income by the number of people in the house (given a weighted value).

But what if you have 2 adults contributing equally? They should both have a value of 1.0

No, because this is a measure of how much income you theoretically need to live on. So 2 adults can theoretically live on 1.5 times the the resources that a single person can live on. Because there are efficiencies from sharing resources in the household.