Overview

This report prepared for the Brotherhood of St Laurence by the Australian Institute of Family Studies defines part of the workforce as low wage workers and then examines their characteristics in terms of employment, family type and income. The report looks at the circumstances of persons with some income from wages and salaries, but not those whose only income is from self-employment or government pensions and benefits. The study aims to clarify the extent to which low earnings are associated with periods out of work and out of the labour force, to gauge the extent of financial hardship among low wage earners and to assist evaluation of a number of policy options directed towards low and middle level wage earners