Does Australia have a working poor?
Charities are reporting a 50 per cent increase in calls for help and most are coming from underpaid workers, says Ged Kearney.
Australia’s economic success amidst global uncertainty is the envy of the international community. Yet despite Australia’s glowing report card, there is a growing class of people known as “the working poor”.
These are people who are most often employed in the service industry, working shifts and surviving on a day-to-day basis. They are paid the minimum wage which is actually less than half the average wage in Australia. ACTU President Ged Kearney tells 3Q this section of the population have slipped through the gap and are not part of the national debate.
3Q: This week's episodes
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Essential Report with EMC’s Peter Lewis and Jackie Woods
Comments19 Sep 2012Lewis and Woods talk through this week’s polling numbers: voting intention, leader attributes, drug laws in Australia, and more…
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Are we ready for the grey revolution?
Comments12 Sep 2012Ken Morrison says our cities need to be transformed for our ageing population – and it’s not solely about nursing homes.
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Ships, trains and submarines — can we build them here?
Comments11 Sep 2012Tim Ayres wishes Clive Palmer and other mining giants would give local manufacturers a go instead of heading overseas.
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Do we undervalue our public sector innovations?
Comments11 Sep 2012Nadine Flood questions whether governments take our science and other publicly funded breakthroughs for granted.
