Report Says Unemployed Students Will Spend 37 Years On Welfare

Young people and students are particularly at risk of getting caught in the welfare trap, a new report has found.

A report has been released by accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) collating 15 years' worth of welfare data. From these figures, they estimate 6,600 students who move from study payments to unemployment benefits will end up spending 37 years on welfare.

In case you thought the situation couldn't get any grimmer, it does. PwC also found 11,000 young carers will be on welfare for 43 years over their lifetime and 4,370 young single parents will be on income support for 45 years of their lives.

Australia's Social Services Minister Christian Porter has said that a "revolutionary change" must occur if we are to break cycles of welfare dependency. As it stands, the annual welfare bill reaches a total of $160 billion and this may spiral into the trillions for future generations.

He also said, "for too many people inside the system the money flows but nothing changes and lives are not improving."

"There is absolutely nothing morally superior or progressive about just applying more money to more of the same approaches where they don't seem to be working, without trying something different."

The proposed solution to all of this? A $96 million Try, Test and Learn fund, which will allow key groups to bid for the chance to devise long term solutions aimed at breaking welfare dependency cycles.

Social Services Minister Christian Porter says the govt doesn't have the fix for welfare reliance, that's why NGOs will get funding https://t.co/AcwPCvtBz6

— Rashida Yosufzai (@Rashidajourno) 19 September 2016

The Try, Test and Learn fund appears to be a step away from centralised government policy-making. However, Porter has voiced his confidence in the program, saying that the investment approach will bring forth new, innovative ways to target policies at groups who are most vulnerable to welfare dependency.

One budding issue at play whenever we talk about welfare is, of course, the job market. Are there enough jobs to go around?

Significant budget cuts to the arts sector, public service sector, and renewable energy have put certain industries at particular risk of job losses.

Be honest Christian Porter... real jobs are scarce. Sadly welfare reform is about blame and budget slashing@cporterwa #auspol

— Order No.227 (@AnthonyCole68) 19 September 2016

Crackdowns on welfare payments were central to the 2016 budget, drawing criticism from Labor's Jenny Macklin. The Shadow Families Minister said "cutting benefits for young people and leaving them with nothing to live on is not investing in them."

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