The extent of poverty Australians on JobSeeker experience compared to the general population has been measured in a landmark study.
The Australian Council of Social Service’s research by the Poverty and Inequality Partnership found one in two people on the government support payment are deprived compared to about one in 12 people nationally.
Multiple material deprivation is when a person lacks two or more essential items because they can’t afford them.
These include a decent and secure home, a yearly dental check-up and $500 in savings for emergencies.
The report found eight groups were at particularly high risk of the predicament including people on JobSeeker, parenting payment, disability support pension or Youth Allowance.
Single-parent families, Indigenous people and renters were among those at risk.
JobSeeker is $56 a day, whereas the pension is $82 per day.
Sydneysider Julie McKenzie, a disability support pensioner aged in her 50s, said a constant lack of funds ruled every decision she made.
“It causes a lot of grief and it means I am very vulnerable. I am just always in survival mode,” Ms McKenzie told AAP.
“When all of your money is spent only on essentials, and you know that you’re being price gouged, where can you go from here? What else can be cut?
“Even when you do all the right things, the price rises just get you.”
One-in-three people on the payment don’t have at least $500 in savings for an emergency, a third can’t afford home contents insurance and one in five wouldn’t be able to pay for dental treatment.
The report used data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey and identified 23 essential goods and services considered by a majority of Australians as things nobody should go without.
It measured how many people lacked those items because they could not afford them.
The insight was proof more protections and higher payments were needed for Australians on income support, ACOSS chief executive Cassandra Goldie said.
“This tells us that JobSeeker, Youth Allowance and related payments are so woefully low that people can’t afford the basic essentials of life,” she said.
“The extremely high rate of deprivation among people with low wealth and low incomes, such as students, shows the important role that wealth plays as a protection against poverty.”
