Table 5 of the OECD Report also shows that total social security payments in Australia, at 12 per cent of average household income, are the third-lowest in the OECD. For the OECD as a whole, the figure is around 22 per cent; for Denmark, Finland and Norway it is between 24 and 32 per cent. The only countries where social security payments are lower as a share of average household incomes are Korea and Mexico, where welfare provisions are much less developed – although Korea is rapidly moving up the OECD spending ladder.
