Shocking figures show jobactive program punishing the most vulnerable
New government data reveals disadvantages experienced by people who rely on income support
New data released today by the employment department and ABS confirms the extent of complex challenges faced by unwaged, underemployed and insecure workers.
Government ghouls and their foot soldiers have shamelessly run a vicious media campaign to demonise people who rely on unemployment payments, using us as a political football and directing public anger towards us in an attempt to escape blame for their own failures.
But of the 1.4 million people in the jobactive program hundreds of thousands are subject to systemic racism, are disabled, have caring duties or complex health and other needs. (See data below.)
These shocking figures reveal the scale of the government’s callous neglect of people most in need of support and their families – the most structurally disadvantaged, the most discriminated against in society and the workforce, those with the least chance of securing waged work.
They entrench us in a cycle of poverty and use the most vulnerable people in society as political fodder.
We now have irrefutable proof of the extent of complex barriers facing people who rely on unemployment payments to survive. These cannot be overcome by imposing futile activity requirements that do nothing to address underlying issues and the discrimination so many of us face.
The jobactive program exacerbates health and social challenges that are difficult enough to manage on their own without the extra hardship caused by government-mandated abuse.
Instead of getting serious about their responsibilities to people they are supposed to serve and support, the government funnels billions of dollars to abusive job agencies who terrorise us through the jobactive program.
The powerful continue profit on the public dollar while the people who have it worst are laid to waste.
The Australian Unemployed Workers’ Union again calls on the government to abolish the ‘mutual’ obligations regime, stop experimenting with band-aid solutions, treat us with respect and respond with compassion to our needs.
Provide meaningful support to keep people safe and invest in a more caring and inclusive society.
Media contact: 0413 261 362 / media at auwu.org.au
jobactive caseload demographics
1,488,462 people were in the jobactive program as of 30 September 2020.
By gender
Male: 774,934 – 52.06%
Women: 713,538 – 47.94%
By cohort
Indigenous: 111,637 – 7.5% (nb: this figure excludes CDP participants, the vast majority of whom are Indigenous)
Culturally and linguistically diverse: 336,078 – 22.58%
People with disability: 256,734 – 17.25%
Mental health: 124,907 – 8.39%
Drug and alcohol: 68,894 – 4.63%
Homeless: 103,381 – 6.95%
Refugees: 54,969 – 3.69%
Ex-offenders: 121,869 – 8.19%
Youth (under 25s): 274,505 – 18.44%
Mature (over 50s): 375,975 – 25.26%
Parents: 210,722 – 14.16%
By age
Under 22: 124,678 – 8.38%
22–24: 149,827 – 10.07%
25–34: 382,445 – 25.69%
35–44: 310,881 – 20.89%
45–54: 266,175 – 17.88%
55 and over: 254,456 – 17.1%
Source: https://www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStore.ashx?id=3d4243c7-a573-46df-a118-48539a2de427
Jobless families
1.5 million jobless families
32.1% of one parent families with dependants were jobless families
81.6% of one parent families with children and dependants were single mother families
157,000 more jobless families in June 2020 than in June 2019
joblessness increased 53.5% since 2019 for couple families with dependants
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