You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The table below shows the proportion of different categories of families living in poverty in Australia in 1999. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
You should write at least 150 words.
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
| Family type | Proportion of people from each household type living in poverty |
| single aged person aged couple single, no children couple, no children sole parent couple with children all households | 6% (54,000) 4% (48,000) 19% (359,000) 7% (211,000) 21% (232,000) 12% (933,000) 11% (1,837,000) |
Sample answer
The table gives a breakdown of the different type of family who were living in poverty in Australia in 1999.
On average, 11% of all households, comprising almost two million people, were in this position. However, those consisting of only one parent or a single adult had almost doubt this proportion of poor people, with 21% and 19% respectively.
Couples generally tended to be better off, with lower poverty levels for couples without children (7%) than those with children (12%). It is noticeable that for both types of household with children, a higher than average proportion were living in poverty at this time.
Older people were generally less likely to be poor, though once again the trend favoured eldery couples (only 4%) rather than single eldery people (6%).
Overall the table suggests that households of single adults and those with children were more likely to be living in poverty than those consisting of couples.
(154 words)