Saturday, February 09, 2013

Down-and-out Down-under

Australia is rich in natural resources yet there is a growing poverty gap.

The New South Wales government built the Claymore public housing estate in the 1970s and filled it with people from Sydney's poorest families, creating a welfare ghetto. Claymore is one of the most disadvantaged suburbs in Australia with the highest proportion of young children anywhere in the country. Claymore is plagued with drugs, alcohol addiction and crime.

But poverty in Australia is not limited to Claymore. According to surveys and reports, 2.2 million Australians live below the poverty line, while more than 600,000 children under 15 live in households where no one has a job.

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