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New minimum healthy living budget standards for low-paid and unemployed Australians

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Peter Saunders  and
Megan Bedford
Peter Saunders*
Affiliation:
University of New South Wales, Australia
Megan Bedford
Affiliation:
University of New South Wales, Australia
*
Peter Saunders, Social Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia. Email: p.saunders@unsw.edu.au
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Abstract

A budget standard indicates how much a particular family living in a particular place at a particular time needs in order to achieve a particular standard of living. This article presents new estimates that build on the earlier budget standards produced by the Social Policy Research Centre in the 1990s. The new budgets incorporate increases in consumer prices and community standards and reflect changes in item availability, retail practices and shopping behaviour, as well as improved research methods, 20 years of use and experience, and new data. They are designed to achieve a minimum income for healthy living standard and apply to families with a breadwinner who is either in full-time work and receiving the minimum wage, or unemployed and receiving Newstart Allowance. The estimates suggest that although the minimum wage is adequate for single people, it is not adequate to meet the needs of many couple families with and without children, while Newstart Allowance does not provide an adequate safety net for the unemployed, whatever their family status.

Keywords

H55I18I30Budget standardsfamily needshealthy livinglow-paidunemployed

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