Key Points
- Welfare groups are calling for the JobSeeker payment to be increased.
- Research finds 58 per cent of people can't live on JobSeeker.
- 69 per cent of those surveyed believe poverty is a big problem in Australia.
A majority of people say they cannot live on the JobSeeker rate, boosting calls for the welfare payment to be increased.
Research from the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) and the University of NSW found 58 per cent of people could not live on JobSeeker, compared to 23 per cent who said they could make ends meet on the payment.
The survey of 2,000 people found 62 per cent thought government policies had contributed to poverty.
The maximum rate of JobSeeker for singles with no children is $53.51 a day, or just under $750 a fortnight, while the rate is $57.32 a day for over 55s, after nine months on income support payments.
The ACOSS research revealed 76 per cent believed the incomes of those earning the least were too low and needed to be increased.
The council's acting chief executive Edwina McDonald said the findings showed the government needed to offer greater financial assistance to those on the payments.
"This survey shows popular support for the federal government to intervene to directly tackle poverty and the wealth gap that is threatening Australia's social and economic fabric," she said.
"Most people know it is simply not possible to live on the punishingly low rate of JobSeeker that traps people further into poverty."
Three-quarters of those surveyed said poverty could be solved with the right systems and policies in place, with 69 per cent believing poverty to be a big problem in Australia.
While the JobSeeker rate was raised in September, Mission Australia chief executive Sharon Callister said the amount received by welfare recipients was not enough.
"It often traps them and their families in survival mode and pushes them into rental stress and homelessness," she said.
"We hope the government will start to take community expectations seriously and implement real solutions like adequate income support to end poverty and poverty-induced homelessness in Australia.”
