Scott Morrison announced yesterday the first real increase in the 'Newstart' allowance in years, a flat $50 per fortnight for singles. With 'Jobkeeper' and the 'Jobseeker' supplement ending in March, many of the unemployed will have nothing but the dole to survive on. Some workers have seen their incomes, savings and supa eroded over the past year as they have struggled to make ends meet through the pandemic. With the ending of 'Jobkeeper' what we are going to see is a new breed of unemployed, people who have worked all their adult life in seemly secure jobs, never requiring social assistance, suddenly finding themselves and their families trying to survive long term on meagre agovernment handouts. Australia is in danger of creating a newer and larger underclass of poor, something not seen since the Great Depression on 1930.

Paul,

Yes and live well, but it'd be in a tent out in the bush, somewhere where there is plenty of game to hunt and a decent water supply.

For the average citizen though it wouldn't be anywhere near enough for the minimum required in a modern urban society.

What a moaner! Its obvious that people do live on the dole, so give it a rest. It's all some bludgers need, and they won't do any work that is available to them when it's available. We have to import people from Vanuatu to do rural jobs. You aren't Saint Paul, and your constant whining isn't going to make any difference to anyone. Compared with most countries, Australia is a bludger's paradise. The ridiculously lavish welfare is what attracts all the Third Worlders here.

something not seen since the Great Depression on 1930.
Paul1405,
Only among white hetereosexuals, the rest will do fine. Also, there's a massive difference between not wanting to work & looking for employment. Then there is the fact that Public Service salaries are set so high that Welfare needs are growing due to the inequality caused in comparison to ordinary wage earners. The Public Service payroll is so high that no funds are left for economy-revenue-creating Govt projects.
People such as yourself who constantly demand more for less are the cause. People such as yourself who don't believe in reward for effort but demand that bleating victim without actually being a victim is a morally valid stance to demand more welfare. I say, create employment for parents foremost & demand that those who deliberately make themselves unemployable get involved in a National Service scheme to earn their keep.
In a word, people of working age MUST be employed AND earn their salary by at least a standard wage. Public Service unions must take a step back in their demands & prove via annual appraisal that their salaries are not above their performance !
Then & only then will we all be able to live within our means & by our efforts !
Then & only then will we be a society that doesn't need to keep blaming others because of ourselves !

The new deal, including allowances and consessions looks pretty good for doing nothing. There are some stricter compliance conditions, but as conditions have been rarely policed in the past, there is no reason to think that a government throwing taxpayers money around will be any stricter.

I always try to live on under $30 per day whether I'm working or not- to be resilient in our unstable Liberal Democratic so called free society. Our young are often struggling to find their first productive job- in a pointless soul destroying meaningless exercise watched on by uncaring authorities- because of toxic political forces on both the liberal left and right- away from Traditional values. In older times the village helped unproductive young into roles that benefited the productivity of the village. But the village has become subverted by importing aliens that don't share the values or history of the community- in the name of mass society- surprise surprise it's a disaster- then the authorities and power brokers blame the community. No wonder individuals in the community have become alienated, atomised and vulnerable- isn't that the point in communism to atomise and re-engineer society in the communist image- well they've got what they wanted- both the left and the right are using divide and conquer strategy to gain power to maintain an elite class- they just do it for different reasons. At least those on the liberal right look after their own families- this at least is noble- and creates a tenuous meaning in a meaningless void. I'm skeptical of the concept of the "world citizen" often characterised by mega rich travellers on yachts- of course there are always those that need to drive and cook and serve on the yachts- the reality perhaps is much more squalid- think Soylent Green but worse. As they say happiness can only be understood in the contradistinction. A cohesive society can't be subverted.