With the continued prominence of youth unemployment, the casualisation of the workforce and an inadequate income support system that is based on age rather than personal circumstance, young people are experiencing the negative impacts of living on a low income.

(Before we begin, thanks to University of Adelaide Arts Internship student Brandon Winter. His research into the effect underemployment is having and will have on young people in SA contributed to this piece).

In brief:

Young people are finding it increasingly difficult to live week to week on their current levels of income.
Unstable, casualised employment and woefully inadequate income support payments mean that young people often can’t live independently, have difficulty paying for food, health and dental care, transport, and utility bills and can be locked out of the private rental market.
Poverty influences an individual’s experience of housing, education, health care, and the ways in which people can participate and connect to their communities. This experience can have a devastating effect on the health, wellbeing, and development of young people in the short and longer term.
There has to be more investment in policy and programs that address young people’s access to housing, health, transport and cost of living pressures to decrease the short and long-term impacts of poverty.

Let’s walk through the 5 key things you need to know about young people and poverty in SA.

1. It is incredibly, incredibly difficult to get a job in SA.

Quick facts:

In South Australia, there are currently 49,700 unemployed people competing for only 11,400 available jobs.

The youth unemployment rate in SA is 12%.

That translates to 50,400 people (and 17,900 young people) currently looking for work.

There are only 11,400 jobs available in South Australia.

Entry level jobs have been declining since 2006.

There are simply not enough jobs available for the number of people seeking work.

Here’s a screenshot a young member sent in that shows that 630 people applied for one entry level position in Adelaide:

2. Even if you have a job, underemployment, casual work and insecure employment are massive issues for young people at the moment.

Young people used to be able to rely on full-time or regular part-time employment with industry standard conditions but there’s been a decline in full- and part-time work since the 1980’s. Young workers aged 15 to 24 are also most likely to be underemployed compared to older age groups. The 2018 HILDA survey results found that 31% of workers aged 15-19 and 20% of workers aged 20-24 were underemployed.

Because young people are increasingly having to rely on insecure employment (meaning casual or underemployment), they are experiencing a disproportionally high level of job insecurity when compared with the rest of the population.

For example, industries that young people work in are becoming increasingly casualised (ABS 2016 Labor force Australia November 2016:

Part of the struggle for young people relying on insecure employment is the difficulty of unpredictable and fluctuating pay because of irregular hours – leading to a lack of financial security. That makes it hard to enter into financial contracts for loans or housing. The economic consequences of insecure employment can lead to young people having to put their life on hold, and can lead to financial exclusion which can have ramifications that can “linger for more than 10 years”.

There are 86,000 people who are underemployed or looking for more hours across the state.

Underemployment and insecure employment, as well as unemployment, are creating inequality and poverty in South Australia.

3. Youth Allowance and New Start are inadequate.

Current levels of income support are not enough to pay for the basics and this is forcing young people into poverty.

Youth Allowance is paid at $445.80 a fortnight (away from home rate) or $222.90 per week. Compare this to the minimum wage of $719.20 per week and young people are living on a wage that is $496.30 or 30.9% lower than the minimum wage. Furthermore, Youth Allowance is $197.64 a week below the Henderson poverty line ($420.54 a week – not in workforce). Youth allowance recipients are forced to live on just $31.80 a day.

Similarly, Newstart Allowance is currently paid at $545.80 a fortnight (single, no children rate) or $272.90 per week. This equates to a difference in income of $100 per fortnight or $50 per week between Newstart Allowance and Youth Allowance. The weekly payment is $446.30 and 37.9% below the minimum wage ($719.20 a week) and $147.64 a week below the Henderson poverty line ($420.54 a week). Newstart Allowance recipients receive $38.98 a day to live on.

To condense that down into a picture:

Look… If you want to know how hard it is to live on Newstart or Youth Allowance… Here’s the National Rental Affordability Index Map for people looking for a place to live on Youth Allowance or New Start:

So with the continued prominence of youth unemployment, the casualisation of the workforce and an inadequate income support system that is based on age rather than personal circumstance, young people are experiencing the negative impacts of living on a low income.

“The experience of poverty felt particularly by young people has the potential to impact upon their growth, development, capacity and resilience both now and into the future.”

4. Here’s what young people told us about living in poverty.

Young people have described the sustained difficulty in living week to week on Youth Allowance and other government income support and often go without essentials such as medical care and medicines as well as housing, food and transport due to a lack of income.

Young people who live with a parent, guardian, or caregiver on a low income, or who live independently on a low income, have described living week to week with the barest of necessities to manage on little to no disposable income. Young people have described a range of challenges to YACSA, including:

being locked out of the private rental market
delaying seeing their GP and not filling prescriptions
delaying medical treatment
delaying or not seeing a dentist,
not being able to afford nutritious food and;
having to borrow money to pay for food, medicines, transport and other essential bills.

And there’s evidence to back that up. Levels of personal income are inextricably linked to the health and wellbeing of individuals and those who experience social and economic disadvantage throughout their life cycle experience decreased levels of good health compared to wealthier citizens.

5. Things need to change.

Government has a responsibility to support young people, particularly those who are vulnerable, and we support a greater investment in policy and programs that decrease the short- and long-term negative impacts of poverty.

Young people pay the same for petrol, food, rent and utilities as everyone else yet they are paid less as workers or recipients of income support payments.

Here are some ways systems can be tweaked to help people living in poverty:

The federal government needs to raise the rate of both Youth Allowance and Newstart to better reflect the cost of living – and for rates to be based on need and personal circumstances rather than age.
Increase ‘youth wage’.
Work to reduce unstable and casual employment – and increase meaningful and ongoing entry level employment.
Create more affordable housing.

Look, we urge government to recognise the disparity in income equality that is being experienced by young people and to develop social policy that supports them based upon evidence rather than stereotypes and political ideology.

“Policy decisions that demonise or punish young people simply for being young are unfair and can only lead to further disadvantage.”

5 things to know about young people and poverty in SA