No way to ‘budget’ out of cost-of-living crisis for low-income earners, report finds
People experiencing poverty and job insecurity are increasingly unable to budget their way out of financial crisis, a new report from the Brotherhood of St Laurence has found.
The research, which asked 40 low to middle-income Victorians to detail their finances over 10 weeks, found inadequate income support, insecure work and the cost-of-living crisis are driving inequality across Australia.
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The report comes just days after a Senate committee into the cost-ofliving crisis heard families, including those with dual incomes, were increasingly accessing back-to-school help including free books, and avoiding seeing the doctor as the cost of medical care increases.
The lead author of the Making Ends Meet report, Dina Bowman, said people had found that they couldn’t manage their way out of the cost-of-living crisis.
“There’s that idea that you just need to budget, you just need to tighten your belts,” Bowman said. “But that’s become more and more difficult, because of those increased costs.”
Over the 10-week survey period in 2022, 27 of 43 participants reported borrowing money or delaying paying a bill.
More than half of the participants employed reported that their income varied at least once during the 10-week survey period.
Many participants struggled to afford the basics, cutting back on food or heating, rationing medication or, in some cases, moving regionally to try to save some costs.
“One woman was talking about how she had [moved regionally] but was travelling to the city for a threehour shift. It was an hour-and-a-half to get there and an hour-and-a-half back so often, she would spent more time travelling to work than at work,” Bowman said.
Parliamentary Budget Office costings commissioned by the Greens showed the lowest 40% of income earners will receive just 9% of the benefits from the re-shaped stage three tax cuts.
Jeremy Poxon, the policy officer for the Australian Unemployed Workers Union, said it was “sickening” the government was offering no relief to people on jobseeker who are living on $46 a day.
“Has the government forgotten that people on income support exist? Has it forgotten that they vote?” he said.
“[Raising the jobseeker rate] would immediately save lives, and fulfil the government’s election promise of ‘nobody left behind’,” Poxon said.
Bowman said the government needs to tighten rental stands and lift rent assistance.
“We really need a strong commitment to addressing poverty and disadvantage,” Bowman said.