The Implications of Poverty on Children's Readiness to Learn: Focusing paper prepared for the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth

In Australia, about one in seven children (14.7%) live in families with incomes more than 50 per cent below the equivalised median income level – one of the most commonly used poverty lines (UNICEF, 2005). This rate is higher than most European nations (UNICEF, 2005), and is higher still among indigenous children. According to estimates from the 1990s, nearly half of all indigenous children live in families with incomes more than 50 per cent below the median income level (Ross & Mikalauskus, 1996). In contemporary Australia, poverty is not a marginal phenomenon; it is a lived experience for a large number of children that significantly affects their early learning experiences and developmental outcomes.