Wednesday, April 05, 2006

[Australia] No end to poverty for working poor

from Nine MSN

Australia's working poor can expect to stay entrenched in poverty their whole lives, struggling with ill-health, anxiety and material hardship, research shows.

In interviews with 41 childcare workers and cleaners, researchers have found mobility, home ownership and social activity are all limited for the lowest-paid.

In addition to being cash-strapped, these workers are also time-poor.

"Unlike many welfare recipients and higher-paid workers, low-paid workers often face both time and financial pressures," said the report's chief author, Professor Barbara Pocock, from the University of South Australia.

"They do not qualify for many of the government assistance programs, yet their incomes alone are insufficient to provide a decent standard of living and wellbeing."

Professor Pocock will speak about her findings at the Low Pay in the Australian Service Sector forum in Melbourne.

She says the number of low-paid workers - earning about $27,700 a year or $14 an hour - increased from 1.2 million to 1.8 million in the past decade.

Cleaners and childcare workers are typical of that group of working poor, she said.

"Public life depends on the services of these workers, who - through their low pay - involuntarily subsidise the standard of living of the prosperous."

But work brings with it responsibilities that low-income earners can ill afford, like cars and clothing.

Prof Pocock paints a stark picture of the experiences of the low-paid life.

"An undercurrent of poverty and material hardship is obvious from most of the interviews we conducted," she said.

"Many have long since given up the prospect of home ownership. Their mobility is sharply constrained.

"Many live in the shadow of anxiety about the unexpected bill or social invitation."

But the impact of low-paid work flows onto other members of the breadwinner's household, such as their children.

It means sometimes going without meals, heating, medicine, home repairs, and basic leisure activities.

Poverty is not a fleeting state, either, she said.

The evidence shows it is a long-term experience with long-term consequences.

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