Australia. New report warns JobSeeker is a ’pre-age pension’
JobSeeker payments are becoming the new “pre-age pension” as the number of older Australians signing up for the dole grows, a new report warns.
Parliamentary Budget Office analysis reveals the typical welfare recipient is now an older person rather than a younger man.
The reports also shows an increasing share of older Australians and women are relying on the payment for longer periods of time. “JobSeeker appears to be functioning as a kind of pre-age pension payment for some older Australians,” the report states.
“The share of recipients aged 60 and older also increased for both genders, with a larger rise among females.” Between 2007 and 2019, the share of recipients on JobSeeker for one year or more rose from 48 to 71 per cent for women and from 51 to 63 per cent for men.
One-third of women on JobSeeker and 29 per cent of men aged 55 and above had been on the payment for five or more years in June 2019.
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