Unfortunately we aren't all blind crippled dogs. BTW that might be so if the dog lived in Northern WA.A blind crippled dog could land full time unskilled employment in northern wa.
Sorry but that is just ignorant bullshit.Rubbish. There is a job for every soul who wants one in wa. No matter how unskilled, lazy, old, drug addicted or retarded. They even employ Irishmen there. There is simply no excuse for unemployment at the moment.
Think the dole is generous? I did, until I tried living on it
Rebekah Devlin
18 Oct 05:40am
Could you survive on $150 a week? Because that’s effectively what we’re asking our unemployed to do every single week.
A few weeks ago I spent a week living on the dole for a feature story. I had just $150 to spend on groceries, public transport, electricity bills, mobile phone, medications, photocopying of my resume and an outfit to wear to job interviews.
I had no car, no internet, no computer, no food from my pantry, no private health insurance, and no Foxtel. I had always thought the dole payment was rather generous. After all, how do all those surfies survive on it? But the current level of Newstart allowance is so grossly inadequate I was shocked.
Newstart is $246.30 per week, plus a rent assistance of $60.50 per week is available, but you have to pay at least $134.36 in rent to be eligible. I couldn’t find accommodation for less than $150.
The poverty line in Australia is $474.20 a week, almost $170 more than the dole. We’ve all said “Get a job”, but it ain’t that easy. Only idiots say things like that, people who have never been in the situation.
For the long-term unemployed, you may as well be asking them to fly to the moon. How do you get experience if every employer wants you to have it BEFORE they give you a job?
I went shop to shop handing out my resume. Do you have any idea how humiliating it is asking a 17-year-old at a counter if they have any work? Then her telling you they only want juniors? I’m too old at 35, what a joke.
The Centrelink offices are truly depressing - you feel the hopelessness as soon as you walk in the door. People are down-rodden, beaten. Some people dress up to show they don’t really belong, others gave up that charade years ago. That is just soooo true. Even decades ago it was the same, I used to think their motto was keeping the unemployed unemployed.
What hopes did they once have for their lives? Will they ever be able to break free from the cycle of poverty? Not on Newstart they won't, and the older they are the less chance they have.
Some were made redundant and haven’t been able to find work. Others had to leave their jobs for many reasons - illness, abusive bosses, inflexible work hours. Some were sacked for no apparent reason.
The Newstart allowance is not enough to lead any kind of a quality life. You are merely existing, rather than living. Life was grey, there was no colour, no joy. I couldn’t even buy a block of chocolate or hire a DVD as a treat.
Welfare groups have called for an increase of $50 a week. Won't make much difference especially in Sydney and environs.
It is a meal at a nice restaurant for most of us, but to someone on the dole, it is extra medications, the ability to pay their electricity bill, a visit to a specialist. These days it won't even go close to paying your electricity bill, thank labor.
A single pensioner got a rise of $17.10 per fortnight on September 20 because it is indexed differently to Newstart, which is done against CPI. Which means dole payments rose by a pathetic $2.90 a fortnight last month - $14.20 less than what pensioners received.
Pensioners get $356 a week plus a supplement of $30.30, which means they get $396.30, almost $100 more than those on Newstart with the full rent assistance. How is that even remotely fair?
Are groceries cheaper just because you’re on the dole rather than the pension? In just a week on the dole I was lonely, bored and so dreadfully isolated. I cannot imagine living like that long-term.
We all know of people who happily exist on the dole with no desire to find work. But these people are the minority and policy decisions must not be based on the few who abuse the system.
There are good people out there who would love a job, and maybe if they weren’t so focused on merely surviving they might just have more time and inclination to look for a job and undertake training.
After all, it’s hard to look for work when you can’t see beyond your next meal.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/ ... z29keR9pQ2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;In April, Greens senator Rachel Siewart tried to live for a week on Newstart, then $244 a week.
She had $11 left after budgeting for rent, power, gas, phone credit, transport and food - but she'd run out of food by week's end and later realised she hadn't really set enough aside for rent or power.
''I had no financial capacity for a range of co-contribution for medical treatments, long-term bills like car registration or insurance, any form of social or sporting activity, clothing, personal care products, household items, savings and emergency money and so on,'' she wrote of her experience.
Perhaps attitudes would change if we really thought about what it would be like to do a weekly family shop on a benefits budget, or talked to parents who have to refuse their children school excursions, or a haircut, or any kind of treat.
On a reality television show we might meet people like Tracey, who wrote this poem published in a book of verse and prose by unemployed people submitted as evidence to the committee by Jobs Australia.
''I haven't seen a film for 8-9 years. It's $12 - I just can't. I have no social life unless it's free. I can't afford to go to a cafe and drink coffee - I just can't. I tried putting $3 a day into my budget. I felt a little more human, existing within society … I had to stop doing it, I couldn't live anymore. Like being invited out to dinner or a friend saying, 'do you want to catch up for a meal?' I just can't, no. I miss it.''
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/most- ... z2AMAdQuWc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;MOST Melbourne homes are too expensive for households on a median income, and only a handful of suburbs - mostly on the city's fringe - pass the affordability test, a government report reveals.
The report shows households earning the city's median annual income of $70,300 have few suburbs to choose from. Even the cheapest suburbs require an annual household income of between $67,000 and $90,000 to pay the mortgage and other bills.
In many inner Melbourne suburbs - which have better access to public transport and services - a household requires an income of between $120,000-$200,000 a year.
Older working Australians deserve a new start too
Ian Yates
26 Oct 05:30am
When you think of the long-term unemployed, it is unlikely that the first image that comes to mind is of a grandparent.
Yet the reality is that over a quarter of people on Newstart Allowance are in their fifties and sixties, and one third of the long-term unemployed are in these age brackets.
The issues around age discrimination in the workforce are disturbing and need to be addressed if we are to ensure our economy remains sustainable as the population ages.
But in the meantime, the fact remains that a person who loses a job in their fifties faces a huge uphill battle to get fulltime meaningful employment again, despite a life time of experience and credentials.
As a result, there are large numbers of older Australians who languish on unemployment benefits for years. Almost 30 per cent of the long-term unemployed are aged 55 or over.
This means that people in their sixties have to meet strict and too often pointless activity tests requirements – right up until they can apply for an Age Pension at age 65.
Australia’s unemployment benefits were designed to tide people over, to support them in the short term until they were able to gain employment. However 60 per cent of people live on it for more than 12 months – that’s not short term.
At only $35 a day it is a struggle for anyone to get by on for a short time, impossible over a longer period.
Newstart is considerably less than other support pensions. The single Age Pension is $133 a week more than Newstart and comes with less strict income tests and more generous concession card arrangements. At the current rate of indexation, Newstart payments will be worth only half of the Age Pension in 20 years’ time.
Research recently released by ACOSS shows that 35 per cent of people 65 and over live below the poverty line on the Age Pension. With Newstart even less, it is little wonder we hear so many stories of the older unemployed having trouble paying bills and skipping meals just to get by?
To its credit, the Senate is currently holding an Inquiry into the adequacy of the allowance payment system and the changing nature of the labour market.
The Inquiry must consider the special issues facing many of the older unemployed in regard to assistance to return to work. However the Newstart Allowance is completely inadequate and entrenches poverty and marginalisation at any age.
Reform of employment support is overdue. It is critical the government seriously considers increasing Newstart payments by $50 a week at a minimum and index it appropriately so all job seekers can be supported in a way that enables people to maintain an acceptable quality of life.
There needs to be greater recognition of the training needs of older people with an expansion of places for older jobseekers in the wage subsidy scheme for very long term unemployed.
And ultimately a more thorough, independent inquiry needs to be established to drill down into the challenges and opportunities posed by an ageing population and explore how the skills and experience of older Australians can be better recognised by employers across the board so less older people need to rely on unemployment benefits.
Long-term unemployment is not an issue restricted to the young and unskilled as is the widely accepted norm. It affects a much broader cross section of our community which must be considered in any reforms in this area.
Ian Yates is Chief Executive of Council on the Ageing Australia
I am entitled to MY opinion and I know a bit about "unemployment" as well. Having dealt with the unemployed, though not those on Newstart. I have had nothing to do with Centrelink, That is my reason for arguing about what the Bludgers get paid. Those that do can, those who can't be bothered, live off the rest of us.Rorschach wrote:What a load of crap Nef... from "wall of text" onwards.
I suggest you take a valium and a big deep breath and read everything already posted.... then perhaps you may have a more realistic pov on the subject.
Why do people here say that as if we all don't already know it?I am entitled to MY opinion
So do i and so do the people whose "walls" I've posted.and I know a bit about "unemployment" as well.
I suggest once more that you actually read what's been posted and get a proper perspective.Having dealt with the unemployed, though not those on Newstart. I have had nothing to do with Centrelink, That is my reason for arguing about what the Bludgers get paid. Those that do can, those who can't be bothered, live off the rest of us.
Well that's total bullshit since most things I post prove that to be wrong.You should seek help. It seems that NOBODY agrees with your perception of Life.
NoAre you gainfully employed, retired or just an Old Fart with time on his hands?
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