Welfare reform
ALTERNATIVE LABELS
Review of Australia's welfare system
NARROWER TERMS
Report
Analysis of the impact increasing the rate and extending eligibility of Parenting Payment Single on financial living standards
The modelling reported in this paper considers the impact of welfare payment changes on single parent families. The paper also provides a summary of the trends in employment rates, hours of paid employment and poverty rates for single mothers, and how this compares to partnered...
Discussion paper
Reforming rent assistance: ending rental stress across Australia
This paper explores how and whether Commonwealth Rent Assistance is delivering on its aim, which is to alleviate rental stress for people on the lowest incomes.
Report
In Home Care evaluation report
The revised In Home Care (IHC) program was introduced on 2 July 2018, as part of the Child Care Package. This is the final evaluation report for the IHC program, drawing on data collected about IHC up to February 2020.
Report
Working together: the case for universal employment support
This report examines employment support services in the United Kingdom which help people find work. It recommends introducing a new system, the Universal Work Service, which would offer integrated employment support, skills and careers advice services.
Report
No-one left behind: supporting people with complex needs on universal credit
For the UK social security system to provide an effective social safety net, it must work for everyone. This paper examines the role of discretion as exercised by work coaches at Jobcentre Pluses in the experience of people claiming universal credit who are out of...
Discussion paper
Budget blueprint 2022: from recovery to resilience
The Australian Federal Budget is a major annual event. It’s an opportunity for the government of the day to set out its vision for Australia’s future. This paper outlines the Blueprint Institute's assessment of the fiscal position Australia finds itself in.
Discussion paper
Unemployment insurance: a recipe for more unemployment?
This document considers some of the costs and benefits of introducing unemployment insurance (UI) to New Zealand. Common features of UI schemes and how they differ across countries are also examined.
Report
Welfare dependency: the history of an idea
To better understand the idea of welfare dependency and its influence on policy debate, this paper examines how the idea emerged during United States' debates over welfare reform from the 1960s to the 2000s and outlines the history of the idea.
Report
Australia and NZ tax credits for children. A 5-year comparison: 1 July 2018 – 1 July 2023
This document provides a comparison of the Australian and New Zealand family tax credits.
Report
Designing paid and protected employment leaves for short-term sickness and caregiving
This paper proposes six principles — universality, sufficiency, fairness, security, flexibility and efficiency — to guide the development of legislative and policy reforms for Canada’s income-support programs and job-protection laws for sickness and caregiving leave entitlements.
Report
World social protection report 2020-22
This report provides a global overview of recent developments in social protection systems, including social protection floors, and covers the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on new data, it offers a broad range of global, regional and country data on social protection coverage, benefits...
Discussion paper
Remote access: guiding principles for a new livelihood and work program in remote Indigenous Australia
Consultations are beginning around the future of social security payments in remote Australia. This discussion paper assesses what has gone wrong with the existing Community Development Program, and argues that Australia needs to consider a more effective, caring and creative approach to supporting the health...
Report
Ensuring adequate indexation of Working for Families
Working for Families (WFF) is the primary income support mechanism for children in New Zealand. In this paper, the authors make recommendations for the anticipated WFF government reform.
Report
Financial stress and social security settings in Australia
This research finds that inadequate social security payments play a significant role in shaping poverty and financial stress trends in Australia. It also finds that it is possible to address these challenges by increasing the overall social security budget.
Discussion paper
Opportunity lost: half a million Australians in poverty without the coronavirus supplement
This paper argues that Australia has the means to ensure that those who find themselves unemployed are not forced into poverty. The rate of Jobseeker should be set at a rate that guarantees that no Australian, and especially no child, lives in poverty.
Report
Social security and time use during COVID-19
This study used an online survey to examine how people receiving social security payments used the $550 Coronavirus Supplement (‘the Supplement’) and their time as a result of the temporary suspension of mutual obligations. The research indicates a substantial gap between Australian Government policy, policy...
Report
Jobs and benefits: the COVID-19 challenge
This report looks at what can be learned from the experience of the coronavirus pandemic about the opportunities for reforms to government financial support for working age people and the key features of a social security system that has flexibility to respond rapidly to new...
Discussion paper
JobMatcher: real unemployment insurance
Many Australians receive very little protection from income risk due to unemployment. A significant portion of people live paycheck-to-paycheck. This discussion paper outlines a new proposal to better support Australians experiencing unemployment.
Discussion paper
We’ve got your back: building a framework that protects us from precarity
This paper proposes is a complete reconfiguration of Australia's social security system - a reconfiguration that brings together an integrated policy framework with elements that would constitute a social guarantee in the face of the threats to social and economic security that have come to...
Report
How universal child benefits can build a fairer, more inclusive and resilient future
Universal child benefits (UCBs) are regular, unconditional income transfers in the form of cash or tax transfers, which are paid to caregivers of children from the time of pregnancy or birth until the child’s 18th birthday. In this report, the authors call upon governments, donors...
Fact sheet
Fighting poverty: unemployment policies in Nordic countries
Examining poverty rates and welfare policies in Nordic countries highlights the inadequacy of Australian policies and what can and should now be done to improve them.
Briefing paper
At what cost? Getting back to Jobactive
This briefing provides an update on Per Capita's earlier estimates of the cost of Jobactive, given the significant increase in the number of unemployed people needing assistance, and reflects on how the system has adapted so far to the unforeseen surge in case numbers.
Working paper
Safety net to poverty trap? The twentieth-century origins of Australia’s uneven social security system
Tracing the history of Australia’s social security system helps us to consider what reforms are needed for the present day. This paper explores how our social security system has developed over more than 100 years since Federation, and why it is no longer suitable for...
Briefing paper
Liveable income guarantee
The paper examines possible eligibility requirements of a Liveable Income Guarantee (LIG), suggestions of additional payments to complement the payment, as well as an outline of budgetary costs and how financing could work.
Working paper
The effect of job search requirements on welfare receipt
This paper highlights clear evidence from the Australian welfare policy reform that the imposition of job search requirements on benefit recipients results in substantially lower benefit receipt.