Is suburban Sydney experiencing a poverty crisis?

Inflation, interest rates, wage stagnation and a cost of living explosion have all been cited as reasons for alarming new statistics that show nearly 1 million NSW residents are living in poverty, an issue affecting one in seven NSW children.

The findings also clearly show the impacts are being felt more acutely in the western suburbs of Sydney, with alarming results showing that nearly one-third of children in Auburn are living below the poverty line, and over 40% of young people in South Granville.

The study, conducted by the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling, used data from the 2021 census, comparing it to the results of the 2016 national survey. That comparison also showed that at least 100,000 New South Wales residents have slipped below the poverty line in that interim - although this sharp rise may have been impacted by the unprecedented challenges of Covid.

NSW Council of Social Services Chief Executive Joanna Quilty offered a blunt assessment, calling on the new NSW Government to act swiftly.

"While things were pretty grim for some people in particular in 2021 - they've got a hell of a lot worse since," Ms Quilty said, per the Guardian.

"We absolutely need our new government to focus really strongly on closing this widening divide and ensuring that social inequality doesn't continue to rampage through our state."

The statistics have shown an imbalance in the geography of recent poverty growth, with the situation worsening far more significantly in regions like Penrith and Smithfield more than anywhere in the Eastern suburbs.

"The so-called 'latte line' is becoming an impenetrable wall between those sitting pretty and those whose day-to-day lives are a constant struggle," Quitly said.

It's widely believed that this imbalance in impact played a vital role in the ousting of the previous government, with Chris Brown, chair of the Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue, claiming the huge swing we saw last weekend was in large part due to western Sydney communities hurting more acutely from the ongoing issues.

These statistics don't seem to have had a direct impact on homelessness in the state - at least not yet - with a rise of slightly over five percent across the nation - but it's clear that women are having a different experience than men. According to the ABS, of the more than 6,000 people who've become homeless in the past five years, more than 80% were female.

That number stands out further when considering that a large share of people who've fallen below the poverty line in recent years have been elderly women over 65 and single mothers - often those fleeing domestic violence situations.

The National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling will publish its final report later this year, including a number of recommendations for the Minns Government.