<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Single parents and low-income households in Queensland are facing a bleak Christmas as cost of living pressures bite, new data shows.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A report by the Queensland Council of Social Service (QCOSS) shows families with children are being hardest hit, with single parents with two children currently facing a weekly budget deficit of $227.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"People on low incomes are making impossible choices between keeping a roof over their head, feeding their children and paying to get them to school," QCOSS chief executve Aime McVeigh said.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/australia-weather-update-summer-starts-with-east-and-west-split/5c37f81b-8e42-44bb-95d8-b9b2c5c9517e" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Aussie city on the brink of scorchingly hot record</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Four of the five model families assessed in the 2025 Living Affordability in Queensland report were unable to afford a basic standard of living, spending between 36 and 48 per cent of their household income on housing.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A couple with two working parents and two children was still coming in under budget by more than $100, according to the report.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Housing costs, rising electricity bills and inaccessible health and dental care are all impacting the well-being of Queenslanders on low incomes," McVeigh said.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/families-single-parents-facing-bleak-christmas-qcoss-cost-of-living-report-queensland-news/023787ea-e956-47f6-bff7-ed08d2ab5b85" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"People on low incomes are making impossible choices between keeping a roof over their head, feeding their children and paying to get them to school.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It is time we recognise the immediate and long-term impacts of poverty and disadvantage on children.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"All Queenslanders benefit by living in a state where children have access to the things they need to have healthy and happy childhoods."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>QCOSS has called on the Queensland government to develop a specific 'Families Strategy' within its Families portfolio to ensure all children in the state have equitable access to health, education and housing.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The report is released as data shows house prices are still rising in Queensland.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Prop Track Home Price Index showed house prices across the state rose again in November by 0.6 per cent.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The median house price in Brisbane is now $997,000 and $779,000 in regional Queensland.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Analysis of Australian Bureau of Statistics data by KPMG predicts the population of South East Queensland is on track to increase by 1 million people in the next decade.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The region is expected to be home to 4.5 million people by the 2032 Olympics.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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