A report card on poverty has revealed that Australia's retirees are the 4th poorest in the developed world, and our unemployed people are the poorest.

The Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development has found that 50 percent of our single retirees live in poverty, which is defined as less than 50 percent of average earnings. This figure has risen by 4.8 percent over the last ten years. Other figures show that a worrying 27 percent of all aussie retirees live in poverty.

One way to avoid becoming a victim of poverty is to open a high interest savings account and deposit whatever money you can afford. This can then be used as an additional monetary resource to keep you above the poverty line.

Families and Community Services Minister Jenny Macklin said the figures shown from the report are "shameful" and emphasized 12 years of neglect by the former Howard government.

"This is a searing indictment of the Opposition's record in government on older Australian," she said.

National Seniors chief Michael O'Neill said the report only reiterate what Australian pensioners already knew.

"The single pension is inadequate and needs to be increased to two thirds the rate of the couple pension," he said.

But the report also shows our unemployed are suffering even more than our pensioners, rated as the poorest in any developed nation.

Sydney's Welfare Rights Centre policy officer Gerard Thomas said this was a serious message, the number of unemployed people is expected to rise by another 200 thousand as a result of the economic slowdown.

"The Government has recognised that pensioners are doing it tough but they appear to have blinkers on when it comes to understanding the real situation that unemployed people find themselves in," he said.

The Rudd Government has introduced a $500 allowance this year in an attempt to boost pension incomes, and will be raising the telephone allowance to $132 a year.

Last week the Government announced a one-off $1400 lump sum Christmas bonus for single pensioners and $2100 for couples to increase consumer spending.

An inquiry is also under way into increasing the rate of the single pension (currently set at $281 a week).

The unemployed are provided with $50 a week less and they were not included in the Government's recent economic rescue package.

Published by Sam Gooch