24 January 2012   Download the PDF

Low incomes keep people out of work

 

Anglicare Australia executive director Kasy Chambers has pointed to inadequate income as one of the obstacles that keeps people out of work.

 

“You need to spend time and money to get a job” Ms Chambers said today.

 

“But once you’ve been out of work for a while, you usually find you have real money problems, spend most of your time managing on a day to day basis, and have no cash to find or prepare for possible work. This can have a profoundly debilitating effect.”

 

Anglicare Sydney’s budget submission, released this week, points to the high proportion of their Emergency Relief clients living on Newstart allowance, and the higher likelihood of many of those people – single adults and families with young children – to be homeless or living in precarious circumstances. (See over page for more detail).

 

To quote the Anglicare Sydney submission

 

While ER centres witness a range of people presenting with financial hardship and material deprivation, the situation for those on Newstart appears to be significantly worse than for those on other benefits – as shown by the very low levels of income across the board for this group and the much higher levels of insecure housing and vulnerability to rental stress.

 

“Anglicare Australia commissioned research towards the end of last year that tested Australian attitudes generally about the level of welfare allowances. The vast majority believed income support should be set to the cost of living or linked to growth in wages.”

 

“That’s because, at heart, most people understand that an inadequate income is a handicap rather than an incentive for people to find work.”

 

“The Newstart allowance of $245 per week leaves people concentrating on survival; juggling the basics of finding food, paying bills, and avoiding homelessness” Ms Chambers said.

 

Findings regarding Newstart and Emergency Relief

 from

Stopping a safety-net from becoming a trap

Anglicare Diocese of Sydney’s budget submission on housing & Newstart.

 

• Between July 2007 and September 2011 25,982 people accessed an ANGLICARE Sydney ER service and of these 26% (6,984) were on Newstart.

• More men than women are presenting on Newstart (58%) which is higher than the average rate of male presentation across all income sources (37%).

• Single people are twice as likely to be on Newstart than other household types. Almost two-thirds of people presenting on Newstart (62.5%) are single person households compared with 34% of non Newstart recipients.

• One in five, or 20% of households presenting on Newstart, have children – which means that many children are living well below the poverty line. This is concerning when it is realised that 12% of the homeless population are represented by children.
• Almost 70% (69.1%) of Newstart recipients are on average fortnightly incomes of less than $500 compared with 25% of non Newstart recipients whose average weekly income is less than $500 per fortnight.

• People on Newstart are more than twice as likely as those on other benefits to experience insecure housing and/or homelessness. Just under one quarter (24.5%) of people on Newstart are living in a boarding house, refuge, hotel/motel, caravan/tent, car, staying with a friend or living on the street compared with 11.6% of non Newstart recipients.

• This situation is exacerbated by the fact that people on Newstart (32%) across this ER cohort do not have the same access to public housing as non Newstart recipients (43%).

• Thus while their average income is lower than for those on other benefits there is a significant proportion of Newstart recipients who are either homeless or ‘battling it out’ in the private rental market in Sydney.

• The issue of affordable housing is a significant one for people on Newstart with 27% citing accommodation and housing as a presenting issue compared with 18% of non Newstart recipients.

• Hunger was also an issue – every second person presenting on Newstart required food assistance (50.4%) which was slightly higher than for non Newstart recipients (43.9%).

 

MEDIA CONTACT Roland Manderson 0412 241 379 | 02 6230 1775

This statement represents the views of Anglicare Australia, as the national peak body of the Anglicare network.

It may not necessarily represent the views of the Anglican Church of Australia or the views of an individual member of the Anglicare Australia network.

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