Childhood family circumstances and young adult people's receipt of income support !

This report uses data from the Youth in Focus Project to analyse how young Australians’ receipt of income support is related to their family circumstances, and particularly the role of a family history of income support receipt. The report takes account of the complex relationships between the many important demographic, geographic, and family-background characteristics that may underlie a young person’s decision to remain in school or find a job on the one hand, and his or her family’s experience with the income support system on the other. Identification of the mechanisms by which youths enter or avoid poverty is a necessary first step in formulating sensible policies targeted towards breaking any intergenerational cycle of dependence on income support and promoting the social and economic independence of Australian youth.