Higher wages, income tax cuts and increased welfare have provided a buffer against a leap in food, housing and electricity prices.
The richest homes are $31 a day better off and the poorest ahead by an average of just under $11 a day.
With Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott both talking about rising cost-of-living pressures, the Herald Sun asked the highly respected NATSEM research group at the University of Canberra, which is used by the Federal Treasury, to assess whether households were better or worse off.
It found middle-income households with children are $23 a day better off than they were in 2005; high-income homes with children have gained $31 a day; and low-income families are $19 a day better off.
Low- and middle-income single people have enjoyed a 30 per cent leap in their disposable income.Single parents have experienced the smallest gain: low-income single mums are just $1.71 a day better off after housing costs.
But the figures confirm just how vulnerable families are to housing costs, especially with the Reserve Bank primed to increase interest rates in the months ahead.
Middle-income homes with a mortgage are paying $105 a week more than they did five years ago just in housing costs.
Average renters are paying about $56 a week more.
The analysis also reveals that typical households in Melbourne are paying $600 a year - or $11.54 a week - more for food than they did five years ago, after adjusting for inflation.
This includes $251 a year more for fruit and vegetables and $62 a year more for bread.
The milk war means the price is back to 2005 levels.
Melbourne homes have also been hit by electricity bills, running at $603 a year more than inflation, and a $521 rise in water bills.
They are paying $155 a year more for beer and $703 more for tobacco, but $417 less for clothing and $1000 a year less for recreation and communications.
Across the board, NATSEM's analysis shows typical incomes have soared by 36 per cent while the cost of living increased by 15.5 per cent, leaving the average household about 20 per cent better off.
Couples with children have enjoyed a 40 per cent leap in private income and are paying less tax. But surprisingly, the welfare they get has dropped by 2.4 per cent in real terms.
They are also paying 66 per cent more for housing, suggesting this group is most likely to have a mortgage.
Couples without children, who include many pensioners and self-financed retirees, have enjoyed a 30 per cent leap in welfare payments, along with tax cuts.
Single parents have seen a 28 per cent rise in welfare payments but have been crunched by a 63 per cent rise in housing costs.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has nominated the cost of living as the No.1 public concern.
She has promised that the coming carbon tax will not increase the living costs for at least two million people.
But Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has warned the tax will hit the cost of living.
NATSEM principal research fellow Ben Phillips said: "The gains in income show that not only has the size of the income pie increased, but the lower- and middle-income families are sharing more of the pie than in 2005.
"The typical 'low-income couple with kids' group actually had larger gains than the high-income group in percentage terms, growing by 18 per cent compared with 15 per cent."
NATSEM's research is backed up by figures from the Treasury and the Bureau of Statistics.
They show wealth held by Australians in property and other assets was at a record high at the end of last year, with every person worth the equivalent of $266,600.
By Phillip Hudson
From: Herald Sun
Source: www.news.com.au
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