Newstart is two-thirds of pension: inquiry

[Banker]

THE Newstart unemployment allowance is less than two-thirds of the age pension in Australia, a Senate inquiry has been told.

The Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association (CPSA) of NSW told the inquiry that because of different indexation methods used Newstart had dropped from being 91 per cent of the age pension in 1997, to just 65 per cent in 2012.

People on Newstart receive a base of $245 a week, which is $225 below the poverty line level of $470 a week and $132 below the age pension, which is $377 a week.

"People on pensions struggle to pay for basic goods and services, with many falling below the poverty line," CPSA spokeswoman Amelia Christie said.

"Obviously, people on allowances such as Newstart struggle even more."

The CPSA joined the chorus of social welfare groups presenting submissions to the inquiry in Melbourne on Monday that want Newstart to be increased by $50 a week and for an independent body to set allowance rates.

Ms Christie said a $50 a week increase would bring the allowance to only half the minimum wage, so it would still provide recipients with the incentive to find work.

To raise the allowance by $50 a week would cost about $1.5 billion a year, which Ms Christie said was not a lot in the context of a federal government social spending budget of $122 billion.

From The Australian 27/8/12.

[hypoman]

"To raise the allowance by $50 a week would cost about $1.5 billion a year, which Ms Christie said was not a lot in the context of a federal government social spending budget of $122 billion."

122 billion? and we were costing them 30 million to be overseas. man we are a drop in the ocean. why do they even bother hassling us...


Read more: dspoverseas.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1583&page=1#ixzz24js2xD2w

[Banker]

My thoughts also when I read this.

[Banjo]

One good meal a day? Not for some on the dole



ONE in 10 Australians on the dole can't afford a substantial meal each day, one in eight can't afford prescribed medicines, and one in 20 cannot heat their homes, according to unpublished research.

Commissioned by the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs for the 2008 review of pensions, it found that age pensioners were much better off than the unemployed.

Whereas 1.4 per cent of age pensioners surveyed could not get medical treatment if needed, the proportion for the unemployed was 22 per cent. Whereas 0.7 per cent of age pensioners could not get a substantial meal at least once a day, for the unemployed it was 10.3 per cent.

Only 2.1 per cent of pensioners could not afford the medication prescribed for them but among unemployed Australians on Newstart the proportion was 16.7 per cent.
Advertisement

The research has never been published, either by the department that commissioned it or by the researchers themselves, Peter Saunders and Melissa Wong from the Social Policy Research Centre at the University of New South Wales.

Asked by the department to examine the adequacy of the payments "to different groups, including age pensioners'', the research compares what it calls deprivation rates among seven groups, including low-wage workers, self-funded retirees, age pensioners and Australians on Newstart. It finds that on almost all criteria self-funded retirees are best off and those on Newstart worst.

So well-off does the research find self-funded retirees that on most of the criteria they have no deprivation at all. An exception is dental care, with 2.1 per cent saying they can't get access to treatment if needed. That compares with 13.7 per cent of age pensioners and 44.7 per cent of Australians on Newstart.

The research says "although the results do not necessarily imply anything about whether or not the age pension is adequate at current levels, it does appear to be the case that the age pension is more adequate than the existing payments made to people with a disability, parenting payments, and those whose eligibility for income support is a consequence of unemployment".

The Newstart allowance at present is about $245 a week. The age pension is $347 a week.

Employment Minister Bill Shorten acknowledged this week that the Newstart allowance was ''incredibly low'' and would be ''very difficult to live on''. But there were no immediate plans to raise it.

In its submission to the inquiry, the Gillard government argues that lifting the rate of the allowance would act as a disincentive for recipients of the payment to seek work. It said lifting the allowance would be costly and might not be necessary as about 60 per cent of recipients moved off the allowance within 12 months.

''In a climate of fiscal constraint, it remains important to consider expenditures on income support alongside other public expenditure priorities and to note that the position of people out of work is also assisted through investment in taxation measures, employment services and broader social policy and program reforms,'' the submission says.

Read more: www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/one-good-meal-a-day-not-for-some-on-the-dole-20120828-24yph.html#ixzz24skpIwhc