Blog #8 Poverty hits Canberra households

According to ACT Council of Social Service, close to 10 per cent of Canberrans are living in poverty. The Cost of Living Report shows utilities costs have risen nearly 50 per cent over the last five years. ACTCOSS director Roslyn Dundas says many people do not realize some Canberra households are struggling; particularly given the city has higher-than-average incomes. The report also found low-income households spend significantly less on health than higher income households. Meg Richens of Uniting Care Kippax says charities are experiencing growing demand for emergency and long-term support. "We certainly do see a large number of people who are affected by poverty in a range of ways; those who are permanently living below the poverty line and those who are dipping into and out of statistical definition of poverty. There are often people who are affected by a one-off crisis or an unexpected cost," she said.

Families are going days, weeks on end, without food. Parents are making decisions on rather to feed their children and not eat themselves. This leads to deterioration in health. Families are making judgments on rather to keep a roof over their head this is resulting in them going without food, or going into significant debt as they try to meet utilities costs. Ms Dundas is calling on the Federal Government to increase unemployment benefits such as the Newstart allowance. "Households and families on low income cannot meet the increasing cost of living pressures that we are facing," she said. Along with Ms. Dundas I agree that allowances need to be increased to help people escape poverty. "Newstart is one of the lower paid allowances and for people who are trying to continue to be engaged in the employment sector, it is really hard to do that when you don't have sufficient resources just to live on a day to day basis let alone being able to prepare yourself for interviews, get to those interviews, be sufficiently well presented," she said.

 http://au.news.yahoo.com/latest/a/-/latest/15149416/poverty-hits-canberra-households/