[go: up one dir, main page]

IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ozl/bcecrs/fwa10.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Price is Right? An Examination of the Cost of Living in Western Australia

Author

Listed:
  • Alan S Duncan

    (Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin University)

  • Kenneth Leong

    (Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre, Curtin Business School)

  • Rachel Ong

    (Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre, Curtin University)

  • Silvia Salazar

    (Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre, Curtin University)

  • Christopher Twomey

    (Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre, Curtin University)

Abstract
The Western Australian economy has experienced something of a roller-coaster ride over the last decade. Unprecedented economic growth over the course of the resources boom has been followed by a post-boom period during which activity has cooled. Despite a reduction in demand in a number of industry sectors, there is a prevailing notion that West Australians remain exposed to high cost of living pressures. Yet several worldwide cost of living indicators suggest that Perth has actually become increasingly affordable relative to other cities. So how can we reconcile these differences? This tenth report in BCEC’s Focus on Western Australia series examines the important issue of cost of living in WA, and how real household living costs have changed in recent years. It begins by tracking the prices of broad categories of goods and services in Perth over time, relative to other capital cities. This is followed by a detailed analysis of the expenditure pattern of WA households across the State’s regions. We also examine the extent to which wages have lagged behind price growth for different population subgroups in WA. The report sheds light on policy issues that affect the economic wellbeing of West Australians, including the impact of cost of living pressures on income inequality and poverty. This report looks at various indicators of cost of living, and highlights the limits in using CPI and inflation rate measures to draw inferences about the real living cost pressures faced by households or individuals in vulnerable circumstances. The Price is Right? seeks to understand how much households are spending on goods and services to maintain a baseline standard of living. A detailed analysis of expenditure patterns and incomes of WA households, drawn from the latest Census and Household Expenditure Survey data, reveals what types of households are hardest hit and which WA regions are doing it tough.

Suggested Citation

  • Alan S Duncan & Kenneth Leong & Rachel Ong & Silvia Salazar & Christopher Twomey, 2017. "The Price is Right? An Examination of the Cost of Living in Western Australia," Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre Report series FWA10, Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School.
  • Handle: RePEc:ozl:bcecrs:fwa10
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://bcec.edu.au/assets/2017/11/BCEC-The-Price-is-Right-Report-WEB.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ozl:bcecrs:fwa10. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Caroline Stewart (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/becurau.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.