Recently, I met a single mum, Susan*. She can’t afford meat or fresh veggies and often skips meals to save money so she can afford her prescriptions. Susan is living on jobseeker.
A car is out of the question, public transport weighs heavily on her budget and lightbulbs are something she has decided she’ll have to do without. So she moves her one remaining lightbulb from kitchen to bathroom to bedroom each night.
Susan doesn’t want to live on jobseeker. She loves working and wants to work but she hasn’t been able to find a job. No matter what she’s tried, Susan hasn’t been able to find an employer willing to give her a chance.
She told me she doesn’t know whether it’s her age, her clothes or how people perceive her health – all she knows is that she’s been stuck on jobseeker, and left to carefully ration the amount of time she spends using that last lightbulb.
Susan’s story is not unique. You can hear stories like hers in every city and town across the country.
On Tuesday night the government quietly released the first report of the economic inclusion advisory committee.
The committee is made up of academics, peak bodies, economists, representatives from unions and business as well as the heads of Treasury and the Department of Social Services.
They were tasked with looking at the adequacy of our social security safety net and what can be done to lift economic inclusion and reduce disadvantage.
The result is 37 recommendations ranging from how we could better measure disadvantage to how we should support those communities that are likely to face significant change in their jobs markets in the years ahead.
Of all the recommendations, one was highlighted as a first priority: raise the rate of jobseeker and youth allowance.
They found the current rates seriously inadequate and that they actually function as a barrier to people finding employment. The rates of these payments means people are living in poverty, having to focus on just trying to survive rather than being able to get back into the workforce.
What is supposed to be our safety net is actually making things worse.
We are weeks away from the next federal budget, which could see us begin to change that, to take the advice of experts and ensure we care for vulnerable Australians.
It’s true that we have a budget with a structural deficit and growing debt. We can’t do everything. We all know that when managing our own budgets that tough decisions need to be made about what we prioritise.
Amid the incessant cries of budget constraints we lose sight of the fact we are one of the wealthiest countries in the world.
We can somehow afford the stage-three tax cuts, hundreds of billions on submarines, generous capital gains tax concessions on investment properties, billions of dollars in fossil fuel subsidies and we can afford not to tax windfall profits. But we can’t afford to look after Australians who need our support.
We know this investment could help move people off the safety net and back into work. The recommendations from this report aren’t just socially beneficial, they make solid economic sense, too.
Some politicians may argue that we can’t afford to lift the rate but we pay for growing inequality eventually through other costs, including the health budget because people cannot afford to visit their GP, pay for their prescriptions or buy nutritious food.
Amid the facts and figures and debate surrounding the budget, let’s remember Susan and so many others like her.
The longer Susan stays on jobseeker, the worse her situation gets. Her health and mental health are deteriorating and she fears that her days of being capable of working full-time are passing. As the committee’s work shows, Susan is not alone. We are making it harder for people without work.
I believe, and I think most Australians share this view, that we should be a country where someone between jobs doesn’t have to live in constant stress about their finances, moving one lightbulb from room to room. One where we provide the most vulnerable in our community with a safety net and a pathway back to participation and contribution.
The Business Council has given it the tick. So have unions, economists, social service providers, experts in social security and even the Treasury and the Department of Social Services.
So what’s the problem? The answer is political will.
The government has an opportunity right now to make our most basic safety net fairer and to remove a barrier to employment by raising the rates of jobseeker and youth allowance.
I hope it finds the will.
*Name has been changed to protect privacy
• David Pocock is an independent senator for the Australian Capital Territory
