Hours of work needed … jobless family claiming minimum income benefits in Australia
Australia: Hours of work needed … jobless family claiming minimum income benefits was 9 Hours per week in 2025. ▲ Rising
Hours of work needed to escape poverty — Working hours needed to in Australia, 2001–2025
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in Hours per week.
Analysis
In 2025, hours of work needed to escape poverty — working hours needed to in Australia stood at 9 Hours per week.
The figure is down 10.0% on the previous year and unchanged over ten years.
Over the whole period, hours of work needed to escape poverty — working hours needed to in Australia peaked at 14 Hours per week in 2020 and was at its lowest, 0 Hours per week, in 2001.
That places Australia 28th out of 31 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 25 years of available data.
Hours of work needed … jobless family claiming minimum income benefits in Australia, year by year
| Year | Hours per week | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 0 Hours per week | — |
| 2002 | 0 Hours per week | — |
| 2003 | 1 Hours per week | — |
| 2004 | 2 Hours per week | +100.0% |
| 2005 | 8 Hours per week | +300.0% |
| 2006 | 11 Hours per week | +37.5% |
| 2007 | 10 Hours per week | -9.1% |
| 2008 | 12 Hours per week | +20.0% |
| 2009 | 10 Hours per week | -16.7% |
| 2010 | 10 Hours per week | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 11 Hours per week | +10.0% |
| 2012 | 12 Hours per week | +9.1% |
| 2013 | 10 Hours per week | -16.7% |
| 2014 | 10 Hours per week | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 9 Hours per week | -10.0% |
| 2016 | 9 Hours per week | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 10 Hours per week | +11.1% |
| 2018 | 11 Hours per week | +10.0% |
| 2019 | 12 Hours per week | +9.1% |
| 2020 | 14 Hours per week | +16.7% |
| 2021 | 2 Hours per week | -85.7% |
| 2022 | 12 Hours per week | +500.0% |
| 2023 | 14 Hours per week | +16.7% |
| 2024 | 10 Hours per week | -28.6% |
| 2025 | 9 Hours per week | -10.0% |
Australia compared with similar countries
- Australia's 9 Hours per week is below the median for high income countries, which is 20 Hours per week, 45% of the median. (30 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Hours of work needed … jobless family claiming minimum income benefits in Australia changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | +500.0% | 2 Hours per week | 12 Hours per week |
| 2005 | +300.0% | 2 Hours per week | 8 Hours per week |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 6 Hours per week | 0 Hours per week | 12 Hours per week | 9 |
| 2010s | 10.4 Hours per week | 9 Hours per week | 12 Hours per week | 10 |
| 2020s | 10.17 Hours per week | 2 Hours per week | 14 Hours per week | 6 |
Countries ranked near Australia
- 26 France 14 Hours per week compare
- 26 United Kingdom 14 Hours per week compare
- 29 Japan 8 Hours per week compare
- 29 Luxembourg 8 Hours per week compare
- 31 Denmark 0 Hours per week
More economy & growth data for Australia
- Real gdp growth, annual growth rate 96.31 % change on previous year (2025)
- Africa's Development Dynamics (AfDD) Table 04 - Annual real GDP 1.36 Percent per annum (2029)
- Africa's Development Dynamics (AfDD) Table 02 - Annual real GDP 2.26 Percent per annum (2029)
- SDRs holdings, US dollar, annual growth rate 15.83 % change on previous year (2025)
- SDRs holdings, US dollar, per unit of GDP 0.0083 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- SDRs holdings, US dollar, per capita 537.43 units per person (2025)
- SDRs holdings, SDR, annual growth rate 10.3 % change on previous year (2025)
- SDRs holdings, SDR, per unit of GDP 0.006 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- SDRs holdings, SDR, per capita 392.43 units per person (2025)
- IMF holdings of currency, US dollar, annual growth rate 2.82 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is hours of work needed to escape poverty — working hours needed to in Australia?
- Hours of work needed to escape poverty — working hours needed to in Australia was 9 Hours per week in 2025, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
- What is the highest hours of work needed to escape poverty — working hours needed to recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 14 Hours per week in 2020.
- What is the lowest hours of work needed to escape poverty — working hours needed to recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 0 Hours per week in 2001.
- How does Australia rank for hours of work needed to escape poverty — working hours needed to?
- Australia ranks 28th out of 31 countries with data for 2025.
- Is hours of work needed to escape poverty — working hours needed to rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Australia data come from?
- The figures come from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as part of Hours of work needed to escape poverty — Working hours needed to escape poverty for a jobless family claiming minimum income benefits. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
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About this data
This indicator measures the working hours needed to escape poverty for a jobless family claiming minimum income benefits. Calculations for families with children assume 2 children aged 4 and 6 who do not use formal childcare.