Just over one third of Australians think the JobSeeker allowance should be lowered as the economy improves, new data suggests, despite the payment being due to halve in September.
Key points:
- The JobSeeker rate is due to be reduced to $550 a week in September unless the Government intervenes
- A new survey suggests 34 per cent of people believe the rate should be lowered when the economy improves
- Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said the $1,100 payment could be a disincentive to find work in normal times
The allowance, which is paid to well over 1 million people who are out of work, was introduced near the start of the coronavirus pandemic, paying eligible recipients $1,100 each fortnight.
It replaced the Newstart allowance, which paid recipients $550 each fortnight, the equivalent of about $40 per day.
As an emergency measure introduced during the COVID-19 crisis, the $1,100 rate is only in place for six months, and is due to snap back to $550 per fortnight in September.
But new data from Vox Pop Labs, in collaboration with the ABC, suggests just 34 per cent of Australians think the payment should be reduced as the economy improves.
Participants were asked about the JobSeeker rate both at present, and in the future as the economy begins to return to normal.
Fifty-eight per cent of people said the JobSeeker's $1,100-per-fortnight rate was about right currently, with 16 per cent saying it should be lower now and 19 per cent saying it should be higher.
Just 9 per cent of people said they did not know.
Looking ahead to when the economy starts to recover, 37 per cent of people say the JobSeeker allowance should remain the same, with 20 per cent of people saying it should be higher.
A quarter of people said when the economy improved, the JobSeeker allowance should be somewhat lower, with a further 9 per cent saying it should be "substantially lower", while 8 per cent said they did not know.
People aged 18-34 were more likely to say the rate should be substantially reduced, as were people who were to the right of the political spectrum.
A separate question found 60 per cent of people believed the Government should provide a guaranteed minimum income for all people, regardless of whether they had a job or not.
Advocates call for rate to remain in place
The survey of nearly 2,000 Australians was weighted to account for age, sex, political inclination and other variables, with the intent of producing a demographically representative picture of the Australian population.
The overall results had a maximum margin of error of 3 per cent.
Two weeks ago, Prime Minister Scott Morrison suggested paying unemployed people $1,100 per week in normal times could amount to a "disincentive" to look for work.
"That's why these arrangements with the COVID supplement are temporary arrangements," he said at a press conference on May 14.
The Federal Government has come under pressure from Labor and advocates not to reduce the unemployment payment back to $550 per fortnight.
The Australian Council of Social Services on Monday called on the Government to maintain the current rate "until a social security system is put in place that keeps everyone out of poverty".
Pressure to do more to extend both the JobKeeper and JobSeeker programs has grown this week, after it was revealed the Government wildly overestimated the cost of the JobKeeper program, to the tune of $60 billion.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiaGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIwLTA1LTI3L2pvYnNlZWtlci1jb3JvbmF2aXJ1cy1zdXBwbGVtZW50LXN1cnZleS1vbmUtdGhpcmQtcmVkdWNlLzEyMjg4NjMw0gEnaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAuYWJjLm5ldC5hdS9hcnRpY2xlLzEyMjg4NjMw?oc=5
2020-05-26 19:54:02Z
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