Two weeks ago a report declared that Australians were the richest people in the world because our median wealth is $US219,500. The Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report for 2013 found that our wealth per adult is $US403,000, and second only to Switzerland.

But are we really the richest nation in the world? And even if we are, how fairly is that wealth distributed?

Tiered society: While Australia is one of the richest nations, 11.8 per cent live in poverty. Credit:Brendan Esposito

Another report out just a week ago - at the beginning of anti-poverty week - found that 11.8 per cent of Australians, and more distressingly 11.8 per cent of children under 15, were living in poverty.

The above figures are from the Poverty, Social Exclusion and Disadvantage report prepared for UnitingCare Children, Young People and Families by NATSEM. That research uses the same measure that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) uses when measuring poverty of developed countries. This considers a household to be in poverty if its after-tax income is less than half of the median after-tax income of all households in Australia. That works out to be households on incomes less than $19,136. So we have 11.8 per cent of the 8.18 million Australian households living on less than $20,000 a year. How can it be that our median wealth is so high, but so many people are earning so little? The answer is simple - the gap between the rich and poor continues to grow wider.

Take, for example, the global financial crisis and how it impacted most of us. Sure, many of us had to rein in our spending, but we survived. The trend in child poverty rates - which fell in 2005-2006, then rose during the GFC to current levels - indicates a much bigger impact of the crisis on low-income households. They were more likely to feel the pain of job losses, or cutbacks in hours for casuals, which was then experienced more sharply by their children. One of the reasons why Australians are apparently wealthy is because much of our wealth is in real assets, which can be pretty much interpreted as real estate. That means as house prices have risen, so have wealth levels, if you're lucky enough to own a property.

If you're a renter, it might be a different story. In the NATSEM report, NSW had the most local government areas with rental stress of 30 per cent or above, at 73. That was followed by Victoria, with 48 areas in rental stress of 30 per cent or more. A household in rental stress is one that is in the bottom 40 per cent of the nation's income distribution and where rental payments account for more than 30 per cent of income.

It should come as no surprise that employment is a key factor in staying out of poverty. Families with someone employed full-time in 2011-12 had only a 3 per cent poverty rate, but that rate increased to 17 per cent if you only had someone in part-time employment and 35.9 per cent if no one in the household was in work. Single parent households were also more likely to be in poverty, with their poverty rate at just under 20 per cent, compared with 8.9 per cent for couples with dependant children. So before we celebrate how rich a nation we have become, consider whether this is truly a measure of success, when so many people are unable to enjoy it.