Ahead of the Federal Election, Anglicare Australia has released an analysis that shows people on the lowest incomes are falling behind on the cost-of-living.
The analysis shows that:
- A full-time minimum wage worker has just $29 left after essential weekly expenses
- A family of four, with two full-time minimum wage workers, has no income left after expenses
- A single parent on the minimum wage cannot afford essentials, falling short by $195
- This follows Anglicare Australia’s Rental Affordability Snapshot, which found just 1.6% of rental listings are affordable for a person on the minimum wage and 0% are affordable for a person out of work.
People without full-time jobs, or out of work altogether, are doing it even tougher. New polling from Anglicare Australia shows that most voters (65%) want government payments like JobSeeker to meet the cost-of-living.
“These numbers confirm what Australians already know. Living costs are spiralling. Essentials like food and transport are shooting up, and housing is more expensive than ever,” said Anglicare Australia Executive Director Kasy Chambers.
“Almost 1.5 million people are looking for work, and record numbers of people are taking up second jobs. People on the lowest incomes, even those working full-time, are being priced out of their own communities.
“One-off payments do not help people out of poverty, and they will do little to tackle rising costs. Other election announcements, like first-home buyer programs, are only band-aid solutions.
“Without action, the cost-of-living crisis could force huge numbers of people to turn to agencies like ours for basics – like food, rent, or medicine for themselves and their children.
“Australians doing it tough need real action, and real leadership. That means making the minimum wage a living wage, raising Centrelink payments over the poverty line, and investing in housing for people in need. “It’s clear that more and more people can’t keep up. Instead of putting a band-aid over these problems, we need real leadership to fix them once and for all,” Ms Chambers said.