Post by mikey on Jul 31, 2014 8:30:10 GMT 7
Men of a certain age receive DSP, not dole
MIDDLE-AGED men who lose their jobs are more likely to end up on the disability pension than the dole, a new study shows.
Manual workers with a high-school education have a 55 per cent chance of ending up on the Disability Support Pension if they are retrenched.
Half the men sacked from manual jobs in their 50s or early 60s receive a disability pension, compared to a third of the older workers retrenched from all types of jobs.
The gloomy findings — revealed in a new analysis of government data by the National Seniors Productive Ageing Centre — explain the relentless growth in disability pension numbers.
People out of work in their late 50s are 10 times more likely to be on the disability pension than the Newstart allowance.
Workers aged 55-64 make up more than a third of Australia’s 832,533 disability support pensioners, who are paid $256 per fortnight more than the Newstart Allowance.
The report shows that many mature workers want to retrain for non-manual work, but cannot afford to study.
It says clerical, administrative, managerial and professional work may be more suitable for older workers — but many lack the necessary literacy and IT skills. “There is a significant need for training to be targeted at these higher-risk groups, at different stages of their career, before they become unemployed,’’ it says.
The analysis shows that 39 per cent of workers in their early 50s stop work due to sickness or injury.
Nearly 14 per cent are retrenched, and 17 per cent stop working to care for a partner, parent or child.
Manual workers are more than twice as likely as office workers to quit for health reasons.
National Seniors chief executive Michael O’Neill said governments must help upskill older workers as the retirement age was raised to 70.
He said the disability pension had become a “de facto’’ aged pension.
“The challenge in shifting the pension age to 70 is that folk who lose their job in their 50s will spend 15 years on some form of welfare,’’ he said.
The federal government began paying employers a $10,000 wage subsidy this month for every over-50 worker recruited from the dole queue.
But Mr O’Neill said the Restart wage subsidy would not succeed unless the government also encouraged retraining and flexible work hours, and tackled discrimination against older workers.
He said older workers who studied or retrained for a new career should be able to claim the cost as a tax deduction.
“If you’re going to reskill, you’re best to do that while you have a job,’’ he said.
www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/policy/men-of-a-certain-age-receive-dsp-not-dole/story-fn59noo3-1227003514385
MIDDLE-AGED men who lose their jobs are more likely to end up on the disability pension than the dole, a new study shows.
Manual workers with a high-school education have a 55 per cent chance of ending up on the Disability Support Pension if they are retrenched.
Half the men sacked from manual jobs in their 50s or early 60s receive a disability pension, compared to a third of the older workers retrenched from all types of jobs.
The gloomy findings — revealed in a new analysis of government data by the National Seniors Productive Ageing Centre — explain the relentless growth in disability pension numbers.
People out of work in their late 50s are 10 times more likely to be on the disability pension than the Newstart allowance.
Workers aged 55-64 make up more than a third of Australia’s 832,533 disability support pensioners, who are paid $256 per fortnight more than the Newstart Allowance.
The report shows that many mature workers want to retrain for non-manual work, but cannot afford to study.
It says clerical, administrative, managerial and professional work may be more suitable for older workers — but many lack the necessary literacy and IT skills. “There is a significant need for training to be targeted at these higher-risk groups, at different stages of their career, before they become unemployed,’’ it says.
The analysis shows that 39 per cent of workers in their early 50s stop work due to sickness or injury.
Nearly 14 per cent are retrenched, and 17 per cent stop working to care for a partner, parent or child.
Manual workers are more than twice as likely as office workers to quit for health reasons.
National Seniors chief executive Michael O’Neill said governments must help upskill older workers as the retirement age was raised to 70.
He said the disability pension had become a “de facto’’ aged pension.
“The challenge in shifting the pension age to 70 is that folk who lose their job in their 50s will spend 15 years on some form of welfare,’’ he said.
The federal government began paying employers a $10,000 wage subsidy this month for every over-50 worker recruited from the dole queue.
But Mr O’Neill said the Restart wage subsidy would not succeed unless the government also encouraged retraining and flexible work hours, and tackled discrimination against older workers.
He said older workers who studied or retrained for a new career should be able to claim the cost as a tax deduction.
“If you’re going to reskill, you’re best to do that while you have a job,’’ he said.
www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/policy/men-of-a-certain-age-receive-dsp-not-dole/story-fn59noo3-1227003514385
