101 East

Down and Under (2013x5)

: 07, 2013

Australia is one of the richest nations in the world. Yet there is a growing poverty gap which can be seen in suburbs like Claymore. The New South Wales government built this public housing estate in the 1970s and filled it with people from Sydney's poorest families, creating a welfare ghetto. Today, Claymore is one of the most disadvantaged suburbs in Australia with the highest proportion of young children anywhere in the country. But poverty in wealthy Australia is not limited to Claymore. According to surveys and reports, 2.2 million Australians live below the poverty line, while more than 600,000 children under 15 live in households where no one has a job. 101 East hears the heart-wrenching stories of the economically disadvantaged children from modern Australia and asks why the cycle of poverty has not been cracked in this rich nation.