CSMC and our members and supporters have long campaigned for an increase in the payment rate of social security. Single mothers across Victoria have told their stories, signed petitions, and emailed their Members of Parliament while behind the scenes, CSMC has continued lobbying government and policy makers.
Now we can report that momentum is growing – but there’s still work to be done.
Widespread support
There’s been a groundswell of support for raising the rate of social security with Parliamentarians, including many members of the crossbench, calling on the government to raise the rate of income support.
MPs Bridget Archer, Kate Chaney, Helen Haines, Monique Ryan, Zali Steggall, Kylea Tink and Andrew Wilkie, and Senators Penny Allman-Payne and David Pocock have all called for the parliament to ease cost of living pressure for those struggling the most by raising the rate of JobSeeker, Youth Allowance, Parenting Payment, and related payments to a liveable level.
Currently JobSeeker is just $56 a day and Youth Allowance just $47 a day. Both rates are less than half the minimum wage and leave people unable to afford basic necessities such as rent, food and medicine.
In the joint statement, signed by six Federal MPs, Monique Ryan MP said that Australians on income support are being left behind. “You can’t return to the workforce if you can’t afford to eat, keep yourself healthy, look after your kids, or get to job interviews,” she said. “We have to lift vulnerable people out of poverty.”
Zali Steggall MP called on the government to raise income support payments, “so that the most vulnerable in our community, who are hit hardest by cost-of-living pressures, are able to afford essentials such as rent, food and healthcare.”
Andrew Wilkie MP made his feelings crystal clear, saying “It is a disgrace that in a country as wealthy as Australia we have poverty by design in government payments that force people to make decisions about whether they pay their rent, eat or purchase lifesaving medications.”
CSMC is backing ACOSS’s call for JobSeeker and related payments to be lifted to at least the pension rate of $82 a day without further delay.
“More than one million people in Australia are trapped in poverty by these woefully inadequate payments,” said ACOSS CEO Dr Cassandra Goldie. “It is unacceptable that in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, people are skipping meals, sleeping in cars, or going without medicine because JobSeeker and related payments are so far below the poverty line.”
The difference raising the rate will make to single mother families
We know that raising the rate of social security payments is a game-changer for single mothers, because we’ve seen it. During the pandemic, when Centrelink payments were temporarily raised by the Coronavirus Supplement, the lives of many single mothers improved significantly. Mums did not have to balance paying the rent with buying good food or paying bills and could worry less. They were able to take their kids to the dentist, send them to school with nutritious lunches, and buy them warm clothes and blankets.
According to Public Health Association of Australia CEO Adjunct Professor Terry Slevin, the evidence from the brief period of Jobkeeper during the pandemic was clear. “Health benefited, at an individual and community level,” he said. “More people could afford basics… They didn’t have to choose between eating or paying their bills.”
Adjunct Professor Terry Slevin made these comments in response to a new report that has revealed that raising the rate for income support recipients now could save them from poverty in retirement.
This week, the Grattan Institute released a report, Renting in retirement: Why Rent Assistance needs to rise, that shows a single pensioner who relies solely on the age pension, can afford to rent just 4 per cent of one-bedroom homes in Sydney, 13 per cent in Brisbane, and 14 per cent in Melbourne, after covering their basic living expenses.
The report states that to solve this problem, the Federal Government should increase the maximum rate of Rent Assistance by 50 per cent for singles, and index Rent Assistance to increases in rents for the cheapest 25 per cent of rental homes in capital cities, rather than to inflation.
The report also recommends the Rent Assistance increase for everyone on income support. It notes that low-income single mothers will particularly benefit, as almost 60 per cent of the total $2 billion cost of raising Rent Assistance would go to households headed by women.
The takeaway message is clear: if you’re a single mother approaching retirement, if you are a renting single mother with caring responsibilities, if you are a single mother who doesn’t own your own home – raising the rate now is key to a safe and secure tomorrow.
Take action
If we’re going to secure an increase to income support payments, we need to show our politicians the reality of struggling to get by on the low rate and demonstrate public support for action.
Advocacy group, Raise the Rate, is encouraging everyone to pressure our political representatives with emails, sharing personal stories and urging them to raise the rate. Use their online tool to draft an email and send it to your local MP.
Please also feel free to share your thoughts, stories or ideas with us at: action@csmc.org.au so we can incorporate your views in our advocacy.
