Australians getting richer – but so is the taxman
THE lack of a decent pay rise has not stopped Australians becoming richer, data shows.
But the ways in which we earn and spend money have changed markedly over the decades, with taxes accounting for a much greater share.
Households in Australia now have an average net wealth of more than $1 million and individual net wealth of about $400,000, according to IbisWorld’s Phil Ruthven.
“Australia’s average household income puts us in the top dozen nations, if tiny nations and principalities such as Lichtenstein and Brunei are excluded,” Mr Ruthven said.
“An average income of over $160,000 per household for our 9.75 million households is impressive.”
But in the 1950s, 6.8 per cent of spending was in taxes. Now it’s 14.3 per cent.
About 4 per cent was spent on entertainment in the 1950s compared to almost 7 per cent now.