Comparing Disadvantage and Well-Being in Australian Families

This paper compares the living standards of family types using a variety of indicators of disadvantage and examines the impact of disadvantage on several dimensions of well-being. The indicators are poverty (defined in income terms), deprivation (defined as an enforced lack of socially perceived necessities) and two dimensions of social exclusion (a lack of opportunity to participate, socially and economically). These indicators are compared across three family types: couples without children; couples with children; and sole parent families, and are then used to differentiate these families according to whether or not that are disadvantaged using each indicator. The subjective well-being of the families differentiated in this way is then compared using a variety of indicators, as a way of identifying the impact of disadvantage and of assessing the validity of the disadvantage indicators themselves. The results show that there are important differences between the extent and forms of disadvantage experienced, with sole parent families being most disadvantaged and experiencing the lowest levels of well-being on most of the indicators.