Excluding welfare recipients from Cwth disaster payments is a failure on both public health & income security grounds. It will deepen inequality. Take scenario: Two 21yo uni students, both live w parents, & both worked 8 hrs/wk. Earnt $216 p/wk before lockdowns. 1/5 #COVID19nsw
The poorer student receives Youth Allowance at $156/wk + PT job income= $372/wk. Pays board to rents to help w bills. The wealthier student never got YA due to high parent income & assets. Both cant work. The wealthier qualifies for Cwth disaster payment- receives $375/wk. 2/5
The low-income student does NOT qualify for disaster payment - receives just $156/wk in YA. Nearly $220 LESS/wk than wealthier student. Govt has fostered 2 classes thru re-design of COVID payments. People w highest need excluded, deepening inequality. 3/5
https://twitter.com/CntrFutureWork/status/1416155682303217664?s=20
If Cwth payments are meant to reduce compulsion to work so ppl stay home & transmission stops they will fail. The student is 1 of 00s/000s receiving welfare payments who wrk to earn sufficient combined income (oft low-wage, low hrs jobs). Their floor is now below poverty. 4/5
The success of Australia's public health strategy depends on existence of strong program of income supports. We need COVID Supplement ($550/fn) reinstated, expanded to incl DSP, carers & JobKeeper to $750/wk rate, expanded to casuals & temp migrants w tighter revenue tests. END
By working hard to design COVID disaster payments that exclude certain groups, the govt's also made it easy to identify & target higher income supports now!
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