How many jobs will be lost when unemployment support is cut?

The Government doesn’t know how many jobs will be lost when unemployment payments are cut at Christmas.

The temporary increase to unemployment payments has meant social security recipients have had more to spend on local and small businesses, who in turn have had more money to spend on wages and jobs.

In September, analysis conducted by Deloitte Access Economics estimated that 145,000 full time jobs could be lost.

Senator Katy Gallagher, the Shadow Minister for Finance, asked the Minister for Social Services, Senator Anne Ruston yesterday at Senate Estimates what impact the end of the Coronavirus supplement would have on jobs and the economy.

The Minister said her department did not conduct such modelling.

The Coronavirus supplement represents one of the largest measures of the federal government’s economic response to the pandemic.

It is extraordinary that the Minister – who sits on the powerful Expenditure Review Committee – is unaware of the severe impact the Government’s decision on social security payments will have on the economy and jobs.

LINDA BURNEY

MEDIA RELEASE - THURSDAY, 29 OCTOBER 2020