The fact that Gina Rinehart inherited billions of dollars apparently means that people earning $150,000 a year are entitled to feel average. The average income for an employed person in Australia is $58,375.20 a year. The median is $50,076. $150,000 a year is a lot of money. It is not average, it is not middle, it is a lot. At that rate you are well into the top 4 per cent of employees in Australia. This is not to suggest that people earning $150,000 do not feel stressed or anxious or that they don’t deserve more for their effort. No doubt many feel exactly this way, but so too do people working 50 hours a week to earn $50,000 a year. So too do people working part time and caring for disabled children.
Related documents
Between the Lines Newsletter
The biggest stories and the best analysis from the team at the Australia Institute, delivered to your inbox every fortnight.
You might also like
Why business is worried about the productivity roundtable
US professor and activist Noam Chomsky used to always advise people who wanted to know the truth to read the business press, because their readers needed to know what was really going on.
Governments keep making our housing crisis worse – and they’ve just done it again
Back in 2003, then prime minister John Howard spoke to ABC radio Brisbane and made the infamous claim that no one was approaching him on the street to complain about their house prices going up.
New Analysis: Mid-East war’s hit to Australian economy, how to reduce its impact
New analysis by The Australia Institute reveals the impact the war in the Middle East is likely to have on Australian households – and recommends policies to limit the hardship.