JobSeeker recipients are up to 10 times more likely to die than those not on welfare, as payments languish below the poverty line

Shocking new data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows the tragic cost of living in poverty on unemployment benefits.

Australians on JobSeeker are up to 10 times more likely to die than those not on welfare support. During 2020, this halved as the Morrison government temporarily doubled the level of JobSeeker.

The return to the standard level of JobSeeker has meant around 1,200 more people on unemployment benefits have died each year than would have been the case had the level of mortality during 2020 remained.

It has long been known that the level of Jobseeker has sentenced many people to poverty.

Currently, JobSeeker payments are almost half the poverty line – roughly $300 a week less than what would be needed for a single person to be just out of poverty:

The only time that was not the case was in 2020, when the Morrison government doubled the rate of JobSeeker to deal with the large influx of people who were unemployed due to the COVID pandemic.

Data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare out today reveals that not only did that lift people out of poverty, it also saved lives – around 1,200 fewer people on unemployment benefits died in the period the rate was doubled than in the years before and since.

The AIHW report records the level of deaths per 100,000 people both on unemployment benefits and those not on any welfare support at all. It reveals that those on JobSeeker are up to 10 times more likely to die than those who are not on welfare support. The biggest disparity is for those aged in their late 30s and early 40s:

This alone highlights the cruel impact of poverty. People who live in poverty have poorer diets, reduced access to healthcare, less of an ability to afford exercise activities such as gym and sports club memberships, and much higher morbidity.

But what is most striking is that during 2020, when the rate of Jobseeker doubled, the rate of deaths among those receiving unemployment benefits dropped significantly.