As we reported yesterday, the Morrison Government has announced a $50 a fortnight lift in the base JobSeeker rate, which will lift base payments to the unemployed by $3.60 a day to around $44.
The increase is scheduled to come into effect on 1 April 2020 and will cost the federal budget around $9 billion over four years. However, because the $150 a fortnight Coronavirus Supplement will be removed at the same time (end-March), those currently unemployed will effectively receive a $50 a week ($7.14 a day) cut in income.
After the announcement, I claimed the new rate of JobSeeker would still be among the lowest unemployment benefits in the world, would throw 1.3 million currently unemployed Australians into poverty, and would be $17.50 a day less than what single aged pensioners receive ($61.50 a day).
