Extract from ABC News
By business reporter Daniel Ziffer
Some unemployed people have decried a rise to JobSeeker payments because it will not make up for the loss of a generous supplement added to welfare payments during the pandemic.
Key points:
- The JobSeeker payment will increase by about $3.50 per day, but will mean the COVID-19 supplement is completely cut
- Some unemployed people say the supplement has allowed them to afford food, rent and medical costs
- Some people fear the low allowance will actually harm their chances of re-entering the workforce
People on unemployment benefits will receive an extra $25 per week under changes to JobSeeker from April, boosting the allowance to $307 per week (and costing an estimated $9 billion over the coming four years).
The federal government's announcement marks the first increase to the JobSeeker payment in decades.
But it comes as the coronavirus supplement ends on March 31.
The supplement was added on top of welfare schemes including JobSeeker, Youth Allowance, Austudy and the Parenting Payment. In many cases, it doubled people's payments and wrenched them from living below the 'poverty line'.
"It changed everything," said full-time student Theodore White.
"I could afford to eat, to buy medication, to pay rent, bills … I was able to go to the dentist, the doctor, see specialists if I needed.
"Everything changed. It was incredible."
JobSeeker, previously called NewStart and colloquially 'the dole', has been falling behind the poverty line for two decades, under Labor and Liberal governments.
That line is set at half median income — the level where half the population have lower incomes and half have higher incomes — and the supplement rocketed people to just above it.
The coronavirus supplement has been whittled away since it was introduced.
Although the newly announced increase, about $3.50 a day, lifts JobSeeker for the first time in decades, it will result in a much lower overall payment than that which was being received with the coronavirus supplement.
"I'm really stressed about it," said Mr White.
Social Services Minister Anne Ruston said the government needed to strike a balance between an appropriate rate and the cost of the massive scheme.
"We need to support people while they're looking for work, we need to create the incentives so they want to look for work," she said.
"We need to ensure that we have a system that is fair and sustainable for the people who need it and the taxpayers who pay for it."
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the decision measured the "considerable expense" to taxpayers.
"Now I have no doubt that whatever rate you set the payment, there will always be suggestions by some that it should be more. There'll be some who will suggest it should be less," he said. "That's why a government has to exercise judgement in getting that balance right."
Payment hurts work chances
Kristin O'Connell, spokesperson for the Australian Unemployed Workers Union said many long-term unemployed people saw their lives "absolutely transformed" in the period the supplement was at full strength.
"It impacts their life, their health, their wellbeing and also their ability to look for work and actually find sustainable work," she said.
"So cutting these payments doesn't just hurt people, it also hurts their prospects of actually finding something that will be sustainable for them and help them pay the bills long-term."
Gwen, who declined to give her surname, has a chronic condition that interferes with her ability to maintain work.
After starting 2020 in full-time work, the pandemic hit. With the coronavirus supplement on top of JobSeeker, she was able — in her words — to live.
"It was the least stressed I'd ever been!" she said, laughing at the memory.
"I didn't have to worry about if I could make rent and afford bills and medical appointments — and still eat!"
The JobSeeker payment was around $40 a day. Gwen had hoped it would lift to a level closer to $80 a day, but the rise brings it closer to $44 a day.
"My heart broke," she said. "Why did I let myself hope?"
Gwen is behind in her rent payments and expects to be evicted.
"I've already had to take out $5,000 in super — that's gone. That's 10 years in the making, that's gone," she said.
Keisha, a jobseeker in Brisbane said raising the rate would not help her when combined with the loss of the coronavirus supplement.
"At the moment I cannot afford my bills, on top of rent and food. I'm eating four out of seven days and barely affording my medication," she said.
"When the supplement goes, even with the rise in rate, I'll be eating even less and I won't be able to buy any medication. This means I won't be able to get better and get back to work."
Keisha said living on such a low welfare allowance harmed her chances of re-entering the workforce.
"I won't have money to buy any clothes for work, no money for my [public transport] card to travel to any job interviews or to travel to work and eating less will only make me more sick and further away from being job-ready."
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