91��̳ - Unemployment

RBA’s solution to inflation? ‘Some people will have to sell their homes’

Graham Matthews — Mon, 16 Sep 2024 16:00:00 +1000

Capitalism has long ceased to provide for the majority, yet its institutions — government, the RBA and the corporate media — continue to try to tell us that there is no alternative. Graham Matthews argues that solidarity is key.

Unemployment is up and the Reserve Bank will make sure it gets worse

Peter Boyle — Mon, 21 Aug 2023 12:00:00 +1000

Philip Lowe said he is proud of the RBA’s unpopular role in forcing working people to bear the burden of “fighting inflation”. But don’t count on interest rates stopping rising inflation; unemployment is going up, too. Peter Boyle reports.

Inflation, wages and cosmetic changes at the RBA

Graham Matthews — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 14:15:00 +1000

Workers need a fairer, democratically accountable, transparent and responsive alternative to the Reserve Bank of Australia, argues Graham Matthews.

‘Productivity’ weaponised to force real wage cuts on workers

Mary Merkenich — Tue, 27 Jun 2023 15:45:00 +1000

The Reserve Banks of Australia's talk about the need to “increase productivity” means less regulation and more “flexibility” for the bosses. Mary Merkenich and Pip Hinman report.

Skilled migrants must be helped to find work

Khaled Ghannam — Wed, 07 Sep 2022 11:15:00 +1000

There is a big gap between the headlines and the reality facing skilled migrants trying to find employment in their profession. Khaled Ghannam reports.

How the ABS defines unemployment away

Malcolm King — Mon, 22 Aug 2022 15:45:00 +1000

In the lead-up to the federal Jobs Summit, it is worth remembering that Australia is carrying a burgeoning precariat of unemployed and underemployed people, writes Malcolm King.

Wage rises need to become a critical federal election issue

Graham Matthews — Tue, 19 Apr 2022 14:30:00 +1000

Government action and worker solidarity are key to overcoming the scourge of insecure work and ensuring pay rises keep pace with inflation and productivity improvements, argues Graham Matthews.

How to eradicate youth poverty

Isaac Nellist — Tue, 26 Oct 2021 12:15:00 +1100

Youth poverty has worsened during the pandemic. Isaac Nellist and Zoe O'Dea assess how the sudden removal of the federal emergency disaster and welfare supplement payments will impact young people.

Job seeking in the country makes zero sense

Dechlan Brennan — Fri, 10 Sep 2021 11:30:00 +1000

Nothing maintains the culture wars more than a conservative PM blaming the unemployed for their lack of employment to a room full of rich business people, writes Dechlan Brennan.

Vanishing criminal? Crime rates down, policing up

Chris Slee — Thu, 27 May 2021 12:45:00 +1000

A new book has revealed that crime rates in Australia have fallen markedly in the last two decades. But, as Chris Slee notes, the book's authors fail to adequately link crime rates to unemployment or other ecomonic factors.

Treasurer Frydenberg shuffles back to austerity

Neville Spencer — Thu, 06 May 2021 13:15:00 +1000

After eliminating almost all its generous pandemic spending measures, the federal government has indicated it will soft-peddle on further cuts in the May 11 budget. Neville Spencer reports.

For a genuine jobs guarantee instead of an end to JobKeeper

Jim McIlroy — Fri, 26 Mar 2021 12:30:00 +1100

The end of the JobKeeper program means that up to 500,000 jobs are at risk. Jim McIlroy argues that plenty of secure jobs could be created if there was a mass campaign to redirect public funds to expand the public sector.

Happy economic numbers hide widening inequality and growing poverty

Peter Boyle — Fri, 22 Jan 2021 11:30:00 +1100

Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is very upbeat about the economy, despite an official unemployment rate of 6.6% and a growing wealth divide. Peter Boyle investigates.

No Happy New Year for Australia’s poor

Peter Boyle — Wed, 25 Nov 2020 10:30:00 +1100

About 330,000 people will be pushed into poverty when the coronavirus supplement is cut again on January 1, writes Peter Boyle.

All fired up for the budget?

Suzanne James — Sat, 03 Oct 2020 13:15:00 +1000

Tuesday’s budget is on everybody’s mind. Most people will be looking for whatever life buoys Treasury throws, writes Suzanne James.

Treasurer Frydenberg promises more pandemic pain

Graham Matthews — Sun, 26 Jul 2020 12:45:00 +1000

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg's economic restructure plans will not only fall way short of what's needed, Graham Matthews argues they are also designed to attack working people.

Defend and extend JobKeeper: Young workers bear brunt of coronavirus economic pain

James Swift — Wed, 08 Jul 2020 15:30:00 +1000

Young people, who have only ever had insecure casual jobs, face a very precarious future, writes James Swift.

Welfare organisations fear the worst of economic crisis yet to come

Fred Fuentes — Fri, 12 Jun 2020 10:15:00 +1000

The devastating impacts of Australia’s economic crisis are clear for all to see, but many in the welfare sector believe the worst is yet to come, reports Fred Fuentes.

United States: Unemployment skyrockets, hunger rises

Barry Sheppard — Tue, 19 May 2020 12:00:00 +1000

Unemployment and hunger have risen sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic, with long lines at food banks and families going without enough food, writes Barry Sheppard.

‘Raise the rate’ campaign needed

Tony Iltis — Fri, 21 Jun 2019 11:15:00 +1000

Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) campaign coordinator Pas Forgione outlined why a campaign to “Raise the rate” of the Newstart unemployment benefit is desperately needed, at a June 15 community forum in Sydney’s west.

Penalty rates cuts shows we need to rewrite the rules

Pip Hinman — Fri, 30 Jun 2017 10:00:00 +1000

Life is about to get a lot tougher for 700,000 workers and their dependents when the penalty rate cuts hit on July 1. It is also the day politicians will get a 2% pay rise.

Full and part-time workers in the retail, fast food, hospitality and pharmacy industries are the first to be hit. The ACTU calculated that casuals in the pharmacy industry will face an annual cut of up to $6000 as the result of a February ruling by the misnamed Fair Work Commission.

The Australian Unemployed Workers Union: helping the vulnerable

Ewen Kloas — Sat, 28 Jan 2017 11:00:00 +1100

There are about 13 million people in the Australian workforce. According to Roy Morgan Research, in October a total of 2.5 million Australians, or 19% of the workforce, were either unemployed (1,188,000) or under-employed (1,266,000). This is up 256,000 from October 2015.

A tale of ritual humiliation at the job agency

Pas Forgione — Fri, 13 Jan 2017 11:00:00 +1100

Job agencies are the government-funded organisations tasked with helping unemployed people find work.

There is growing evidence suggesting this “help” consists of the following:

Herald Sun vilifies unemployed — again

Dilmen Ramadan — Sat, 05 Nov 2016 11:00:00 +1100

Melbourne’s Herald Sun newspaper has once again vilified the unemployed by publishing an article linking methamphetamine use with being on welfare. Only individuals who had been arrested by police were surveyed in the study mentioned in this piece.

The October 18 front page article read: “70% of ice users arrested by police admit being on welfare, nationwide survey finds”. However, this does not mean 70% of those receiving welfare payments are ice users.

Conference discusses stories and struggles from below the poverty-line

Pas Forgione — Sat, 29 Oct 2016 11:00:00 +1100

As part of this year's Anti-Poverty Week, a conference in South Australia A looked at how a lack of jobs is changing the nature of unemployment into an increasingly long-term phenomenon.

Target 80K Jobs Campaign Launch

Kathy Fairfax — Thu, 02 Jun 2016 10:00:00 +1000

Anti-Poverty Network SA launched a new campaign this week: Target 80K (80,000) Jobs For SA . The campaign is about shifting the discussion on unemployment away from the relentless victim-blaming, the attacks on job-seekers, and onto governments that know full well but refuse to acknowledge, let alone do anything about the fact there are not enough jobs to go around. In South Australia, we have 9,800 job vacancies and 89,600 job-seekers. We need another 80,000 jobs. Anti-Poverty Network SA released this statement on June 1 to coincide with the launch. * * *

Peter Dutton: minister for contradicting himself

Stuart Munckton — Fri, 20 May 2016 10:00:00 +1000

The odious Peter Dutton, minister for torturing refugees, has plumbed new depths in responding to a Greens proposal to increase Australia's refugee intake from 13,750 to 50,000. "They won't be numerate or literate in their own language, let alone English," Dutton said. "These people would be taking Australian jobs, there's no question about that. "For many of them that would be unemployed, they would languish in unemployment queues and on Medicare and the rest of it so there would be huge cost and there's no sense in sugar-coating that, that's the scenario."

This federal budget continues to attack youth

Jacob Andrewartha — Thu, 05 May 2016 10:00:00 +1000

Treasurer Scott Morrison presented his budget for 2016-17 on May 3. What does it mean for young people today? Does it address higher education and growing youth unemployment? No. From April 1 next year, jobseekers under 25 who are receiving welfare payments such as Newstart and have been looking for a job for at least six months, will be able to participate in intensive pre-employment skills training within five months of registering with the Centrelink program “jobactive”.

Good news — for a change

Pip Hinman — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 10:00:00 +1000

Senate rejects bid to make unemployed wait for welfare An attack on young people has been defeated. A measure to force jobseekers under the age of 25 to wait an additional four weeks before accessing unemployment benefits has been defeated in the Senate, 30 votes to 35. Labor and the Greens opposed the bill, announced in the May federal budget, meaning six of the eight crossbenchers had to vote with the government for the bill to pass.

Pushed to the margins in Newcastle

Stephen O'Brien — Thu, 29 Oct 2015 11:00:00 +1100

Radical solutions to poverty were put forward at a public conversation titled “Pushed to the Margins” held at the Newcastle City Hall on October 21. The ABC’s Lateline co-presenter Emma Alberici hosted the forum and seemed to be taken aback by economist Professor Bill Mitchell’s simple solutions to poverty. Asked by Alberici, “What causes unemployment?”, Mitchell responded: “Lack of jobs”. Mitchell went on to advocate a “job guarantee”, where the government funds job creation through a massive programme of productive public works.

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