ANALYSIS Top Stories Unemployment is falling quickly, so Bills of more than $1,000 sent to flood victims for airlift rescues why are so many people still struggling? Scott Morrison faces day of grilling over inception of Robodebt scheme By business reporter Gareth Hutchens Posted Sat 9 Apr 2022 at 10:22pm, updated Sun 10 Apr 2022 at 1:33am Ambush gunman Nathaniel Train in contact with family weeks before deadly siege centrelink medicare Walker Flat residents urged to evacuate because of flooding We cannot rule forever': Vote counting begins in third Fiji election since military coup Ukrainian authorities report explosions in Kyiv after drone attacks West Australian university student dies suddenly after flying to Bali for a dental treatment Property developer one of two men There are more people relying on unemployment benefits today than there were arrested over alleged arson of before the pandemic. (AAP: Dan Peled) historic Sydney mansion Help keep family & friends informed by sharing this article Why this coastal tourist town wants to restrict Airbnbs to affluent suburbs abc.net.auews/unemployment-i... COPY LINK SHARE Made my blood boil: Mum furious as son left out of year six graduation celebrations The Geminids are about to put on a Australia's labour market is tightening. meteor show. Here's when to look upabc.net.au H m NEWS Unemployment is falling quickly. so why are so many p.\" He desperately wants to buy his own property before it's "too late" but he's afraid he won't be able to. He said he pays his rent without a problem but there's no way he could save enough for a deposit now to buy a property to secure his retirement. He was hoping there'd be something in last month's RBA house Price federal budget for people like him, warning but there wasn't' "Why can't the government look at the rent repayment history and offer an option to buy or invest in a property so that, at least when I retire, I have something to move into, or perhaps move in now?" he asked The Reserve Bank is condent most borrowers will be able to cope with rising interest rates, but It's another dynamic bedevilling it also warns recent buyers should the economy. brace for falling property prices. Property prices have surged 25 per Read more cent in the last 18 months Have wages grown to match it? Hardly. Real wages are still going backwards Number of people working multiple jobs hits record high Dr Elise Klein, a senior lecturer in public policy at ANU, says there are other signs people are struggling. She said there was a record number of people now working twojobs, and it was concerning. "It's around 867,000 people working twojobs, and that's predominantly young people and women," she told the ABC. "' SHARE abc.net.au E m NEWS Unemployment is falling quickly. so why are so many p... r\" SHARE Long-term unemployment Ashlie Stevenson has been unemployed for eight years. In her lastjob, she worked as a pathology collector in hospitals for almost a decade. But since becoming unemployed, she's applied for hundreds of roles but has rarely heard back from employers. Ashlie Stevenson, unemployed, says when she is eligible for the age pension, the extra money Will be a relief. (ABC News: John Gunn) "You have to make choices between medicine and food, rent and food," she told the ABC this week. "Choices that. in Australia, you shouldn't have to make." Ms Stevenson has been on the waiting list for public housing for the last seven years and she has spent the last two without a permanent place to sleep. "I think I've been in five different places in the last two years, but I'm running low on places to drop into and out of," she said. "When I was renting. I couldn't afford haircuts. I had to go without seven meals in order to afford a haircut so I could go to an interview." Later this year, she will be eligible for the age pension. She will receive an extra $150 a week. According to the Department of Social Services, 249,886 people on JobSeeker (26.3 per cent) are over 55. aws Why/ewe people being Ief a - n'q n ' IXXI NEWS Australia's labour market is tightening. The unemployment rate is declining, and it's headed down to 19705 levels. Job vacancies are at record highs and the number of officially "unemployed" people per vacancy has fallen to 1.6, the lowest on record. So why are so many people still struggling to nd work? It has to do with the labour market itself. An increase in precariousness Australia's labour market has been radically restructured in recent decades. In the 19705, policymakers abandoned the old full employment model of the postrWorld War II era. They replaced it with a new modelthat allowed much higher levels of unemployment to suppress wages and ination. Since then, there haven't been enough jobs to go around by design. It has coincided with the casualisation of the workforce, rising underemployment and declining wages growth. And according to economics Professor Ross Garnaut, ordinary Australians experienced a period of income stagnation between 2013 and 2020 that was unprecedented since the Great Depression of the 19305. He says 2013 to 2020 were Australia's "Dog Days." Real household disposable income per capita growth Qunrzci ly growth In disposable income per cacila. seasonal; adjuster; {it Resources boom Productivity boom Dog Days ------- Period average 3% 2. 5% 2% 1. 5% 1% 0.5% .......................... 0% 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics There was virtually no increase in average household disposable income between 2013 and 2020. (ABC: Alistair Kroie.) Unemployment is falling quickly. so why are so many p... P SHARE The Geminids are about to put on a meteor show. Here's when to look up Plan to cap gas and coal prices wins enough support to pass parliament WHO sounds warnings over China's retreat from zero-COVID restrictions Inquest hears pilot complaint made months before fatal South Stradbroke crash not passed on to authorities Bipartisan US billseeks to block Huawei's access to American banks Popular Now Don't miss news that matters to you. Log in to ABC today to get a more personalised experience tailored to your preferences. GET STARTED 1. West Australian university student dies suddenly after ying to Bali for a dental treatment 2. Ambush gunman NathanielTrain in contact with family weeks before deadly siege 3. 'Made my blood boil': Mum furious as son left out of year six graduation celebrations ll n.'ll.- -c......... "m abc.net.au a ONNEWS Unemployment is falling quickly, so why are so many p.. SHARE Dr Elise Klein, senior lecturer of public policy at ANU, says many people working two or more jobs still aren't earning enough. (ABC News: Luke Stephenson) "And even though people are working two jobs, they are paid on average less than the average salary for everybody else. "It's really concerning to see this trend going up. "It signals that the quality of jobs out there is not in [line] with what people need to keep up with the cost of living, but also in terms of the wages they're receiving [for their work]," she said. What about the budget's 'cost of living' measures? Which brings us to the final point. The Morrison government told voters that its pre-election budget was designed to push the cost of living down. The budget included a $250 one-off cash payment for 6 million Australians who are on various government payments, such as the age pension, disability support pension and JobSeeker. But Jay Coonan from the Antipoverty Centre says the one-off payments will do nothing to lift people out of poverty. "The budget was a joke for people in poverty," he told the ABC. "The $250 payment was a joke. People can't use that to pay their rent, they can't use that to pay their food bill." Jay Coonan, Antipoverty Centre spokesman, says the weekly JobSeeker payment is almost $300 below the poverty line. (ABC News: Michael Barnett)abc.net.au E m NEWS Unemployment is falling quickly. so why are so many p... H SHARE than $1,000 sent g\" I" He included the above graph in his 2021 book Reset: Restoring Australia after the Great Crash of 2020. t d victims "I 7'3\" for airlift In that book, he said Australians could be forgiven for being angry. rescues "In the best of circumstances, by 2025, Australians will have lived through the longest period of real income stagnation in our national 5, Police shooting history," he warned. survivors faced snakes as they The labour market is tightening, \"WW 5'\" by offenders to 'kill but." and maim' ofcers It's important context for our current situation. In the last six months, Australia's labour market has been tightening 5, Scott Morrison so rapidly it's taken policymakers by surprise. faces day of grilling over inception of Robodebt scheme Due to a unique combination of massive amounts offiscal stimulus, ultrarloose monetary policy, closed international borders and a widelyvaccinated population, the unemployment rate has been driven down quickly to 4 per cent. That's where it's sitting now: at a 13year low. It's pushed the employmentrtor population ratio and the When Will we reach full participation rate to record highs. emPl-oyment? Underemployment has fallen back to 2008 levels. And a senior economist at ANZ thinks the unemployment rate 2' '93- could even fall to 3.3 per cent by the end of this year. "Full employment"is acontested idea. but the labour market is 50, how come more people getting tighter. How tight can it are relying on unemployment get? benets today than before the pandemic? Read more See the graphic below. Experts say it's a baffling phenomenon they're trying to gure out. Ofcially "unemployed" vs JobSeeker and Youth Allowance (other) recipients ('0005) In February 2022, there were 607,900 ofcially unemployed people (original data) and 949,940 people relying on unemployment benets Unemployed (original) JobSeeker and Youth Allowance (other recipients) abc.net.au H m NEWS Unemployment is falling quickly. so why are so many p\". r\" SHARE A change in fortunes, and everything changes Jerry Andrews, a single father of three, says he was made redundant twice in the last three years and experienced some unemployment for a few months He's thankful he was able to nd employment again, but it's come with a nancial shock. "My pay has signicantly seen a reduction, in terms of my annual income, up to 40 per cent," he told the ABC. "So that has had a major impact on my lifestyle choices and how I survive nancially" Single father Jerry Andrews says he's concerned he won't be able to buy a property to secure his retirement. (ABC News: Michael Barnett) Mr Andrews said he used to be a home owner but he had to sell his property when his marriage broke down. He desperately wants to buy his own property before it's "too late" but he's afraid he won't be able to. He said he pays his rent without a problem but there's no way he could save enough for a deposit now to buy a property to secure his retirement He was hoping there'd be something in last month's RBA house Pr'ce federal budget for people like him, warning but there wasn't. "Why can't the government look at the rent repayment history and offer an option to buv or invest in a abc.net.au E MNEWS Unemploymentis falling quickly. so why are so many p... H SHARE Officially "unemployed" vs JobSeeker and Youth Allowance (other) recipients ('0005) In February 2022, there were 607,900 ofcially unemployed people (original data) and 949,940 people relying on unemployment benets Unemployed (original) JobSeeker and Youth Allowance (other recipients) 949.94 6079 And how come so many people are still struggling to nd work? Well, remember what type of Labour market Australia had before the pandemic hit, where there weren't enough jobs to go around. Currently, the Bureau of Statistics says there are 423,500job vacancies, which is a record high. There are still 607,900 ofcially unemployed people (original data, 'DOI-e bl.Udger' tern? without trend or seasonal damaging AUStralIan adjustments). lives And those ofcial numbers don't include the hundreds of thousands of people who aren't in the labour force but who may also want to work. There's still a lot of competition for The phrase "9'0"? bludger" '5 jobs. neoliberal language, and it's still being used to that end. And for each entryleveljob advertised at the moment, there Read more are 23 people who have been on an unemployment payment for more than 12 months and who have to compete with applicants who have only experienced shortterm unemployment or who are already employed but want to switchjobs. So the labour market has been tightening but we're far from a situation in which things are rosy for everyone. And some personal experiences are worth listening to. Jay Coonan, Antipoverty Centre spokesman says the weekly JobSeeker payment is almost $300 below the poverty line. (ABC NewerfChael Barnett) He said the weekly JobSeeker payment) at $321.35 for a single person with no children, was far below the poverty line. The Henderson poverty line is a little over $610 a week. He said if the JobSeeker unemployment payment was lifted to match the poverty payment, it would help more people get back into work. "Right now, people are punished for being unemployed," he said. "People are punished for every step they take to try to improve their lives." The positive employment headlines are still masking a lot a misery. Posted 9 Apr 2022, updated 10 Apr 2022 Share @ o o o