HILDA: Typical Australian household worse-off than 2009

The 2019 Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey has been released, which follows the lives of more than 17,000 Australians each year.

A key finding from this year’s report is that real median household disposable income was lower in 2017 ($80,095) than it was in 2009 ($80,637):

The HILDA survey also provides real equivalised income, which measures material living standards by adjusting household disposable income for the household’s ‘needs’. This measure has declined from $48,451 in 2009 to $47,875 in 2017:

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About the author

Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.