<
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/apr/19/students-left-with-13-a-day-as-youth-allowance-falls-behind-rent-rises-analysis-finds>
"Students are being left with as little as $13 a day to live on as the youth
allowance fails to keep pace with soaring rents, a new analysis from
Homelessness Australia shows.
The report compared the cost of sharing an average two-bedroom apartment
against the maximum income support payments available to young student renters,
revealing they are left with little money to cover food, transport, medicine,
utilities and other costs.
Youth allowance has increased by 10% to $562.80 over the last two years with
CPI indexing, while the maximum rent assistance is $157.20.
But rents have surged ahead 24%. Since March last year, the national median
advertised rent price increased from $450 to $500 to reach a historical high,
recent data from PropTrack showed.
A young person who paid 64% of their income two years ago to share a
two-bedroom unit would now have to pay 73% of it, said Kate Colvin, the chief
executive of Homelessness Australia.
“Our government has said they wouldn’t leave anyone behind, but we’ve got
people who are on the lowest income support, young people who get less than
people on jobseeker, who absolutely can’t afford the rent and three meals a
day,” Colvin said.
“This is not an acceptable situation in a country like Australia.
“The reality is landlords will not rent to a young person whose budget is
stretched this thinly, making it almost impossible for young people who can’t
live safely at home to find somewhere to live.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
