Income, poverty and wellbeing

The Melbourne Institute has a long history of research into issues of poverty, inequality and wellbeing, beginning with the pioneering work in the 1960s and 1970s of the Melbourne Institute's founder, Professor Ronald Henderson. In addition to research projects investigating the extent, nature, causes and consequences of inequality and poverty, the Melbourne Institute produces the quarterly publication Poverty Lines: Australia, Australia's longest-running poverty index.

Projects commenced in 2007

• The changing socio-demographic composition of poverty in Australia: 1982-2004

Projects commenced in 2005

• The Dynamics and Persistence of Income Poverty in Australia

Projects commenced in 2004

• Dimensions of Poverty, Disadvantage and Low Capabilities
• The Structure and Distribution of Household Wealth
• Cohort and Distributional Analysis of the Wealth of Australians
• Financial Stress, Wealth, Poverty and Indebtedness

Projects commenced in 2003

• Money and subjective well-being
• Income Poverty in Australia

Projects commenced in 2002

• Effect of family composition and worklessness on the distribution of income and expenditure
• Understanding and improving data quality relating to low income households

Projects commenced in 2001

• The Polarisation of Work and Poverty Across Australian Households: An Empirical Study