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In the context of social services, 'adequate' refers to the sufficiency of income support to meet basic needs. Paul O’Callaghan, Executive Director of CSSA, explores this critical concept, highlighting how current income support levels fail to lift households out of poverty. The OECD reports that 75.3% of households remain in poverty after housing costs. CSSA proposes establishing independent benchmarks for adequacy, emphasizing the need for reforms that address work incentives and affordability in the allowance payment system for jobseekers.
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Income support What does ‘adequate’ mean anyway? Paul O’Callaghan, Executive Director CSSA
Adequate for what? (and who says?) Questions about values Questions about facts CSSA’s proposal for reform
Adequate, adj. Fully satisfying what is required; quite sufficient, suitable, or acceptable in quality or quantity.
Households in poverty OECD after-housing poverty measure 75.3% 27.8% 5.9% Main source of income Source: NATSEM,Going Without: Financial Hardship in Australia
Deprivation 35.7% % greaterthan 3 deprivations 20.1% 4.8% Main source of income Source: NATSEM,Going Without: Financial Hardship in Australia
Financial stress 45.4% % 3 or more financial stressors 14.9% Main source of income Source: NATSEM,Going Without: Financial Hardship in Australia
CSSA’s proposal: an independent commission Independent commission establishes adequacy benchmarks • Other objectives • Work incentives • affordability Government sets income support rates
More information Adequate income support for jobless Australians CSSA Submission to Senate Standing Committee on Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Committee Inquiry into the adequacy of the allowance payment system for jobseekers and others, the appropriateness of the allowance payment system as a support into work and the impact of the changing nature of the labour market. http://catholicsocialservices.org.au/node/44783 Going Without: Financial Hardship in Australia A new NATSEM report commissioned by the Major Church Providers of social services in Australia shows some people living on the dole are living in such poverty, that their chances of getting a job are seriously limited. http://catholicsocialservices.org.au/node/44790
Deprivation Source: NATSEM,Going Without: Financial Hardship in Australia
Financial stress Main source of income Source: NATSEM,Going Without: Financial Hardship in Australia