The Wire

In 1987 Bob Hawke opened the Labor Party’s election campaign by pledging that no Australian child would be living in poverty by 1990. At the time there were around 580,000 kids in poor families. But since then, not much has changed. A new report from the Australian Council of Social Service shows almost 600,000 children are living below the poverty line. Welfare groups say education is crucial, and better investment in schools should be part of a long term solution to break the poverty cycle.