What is the difference between parenting payment and newstart

A small number of recipients of unemployment and parenting payments are aged under 16 in March fewer than 5 for Youth Allowance other and 68 for PPS. These recipients are included in the numerator in calculating the proportion of recipients of unemployment and parenting payments aged 16 and over in the population, to ensure consistency in recipient numbers reported on this page.

For further information on the payment rates for each of these payments, see Social Security Guide — current rates. This page does not include all work-related income support payments for people aged 16 and over — in particular, disability-related payments see Disability Support Pension and Carer Payment for more information and Income and income support for an overview of income support payments.

As at 26 March , 1. Of these:. Before June , all recipients of these payments were aged under 65, reflecting the qualifying age for the Age Pension over this period increased from 65 to As noted earlier, to receive unemployment payments, most applicants are subject to mutual obligation requirements, such as looking for work or engaged in activities that will help them find work in the future such as volunteering or training.

However, where individuals have a reduced capacity to work of fewer than 30 hours per week due to an impairment but are not eligible for the Disability Support Pension, they may have reduced mutual obligation requirements.

The large drop in June reflects the short-term policy measures to the Jobseeker Payment in March such as suspending mutual obligation requirements in during the coronavirus COVID pandemic that were then gradually re-introduced after August In June , the number of unemployment or parenting payment recipients was at its highest level in 2 decades — 1. Before March , the number and proportion receiving these payments were declining — falling from 1.

In late March , the Australian Government introduced a range of economic support packages to offset the adverse impacts on the labour market of the measures it introduced to slow the spread of the COVID virus — widespread social distancing and other business related restrictions.

These included the introduction of the Coronavirus Supplement for working age income support recipients and short-term policy changes to the JobSeeker payment such as waiving the assets tests, waiting periods, and mutual obligation requirements.

These supplements and policy changes ended on the 31 March Between March and June , the number of income support recipients rose by , people of which:. The number of unemployment and parenting payment recipients increased from 1. The proportion of the population receiving these payments increased from 5. The proportion of the population aged 16 and over receiving parenting payments increased from 1. Data on recipients of unemployment payments are available monthly over the period between and as opposed to quarterly data for other income support payments.

The number of recipients of unemployment payments rose by , in April and by , in May , reaching 1. Numbers fell in most months since then to July , with the largest monthly fall in April , fewer recipients between March and April or from 1. In July , there were 1.

The proportion of the population aged 16 and over receiving unemployment payments almost doubled between March and May from 4. Receipt of unemployment payments in July is still higher than pre-pandemic levels 4. During , receipt of these unemployment payments increased at a greater rate for some population groups than for others. And a change introduced by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made the parenting payments themselves less generous.

These changes have shrunk Family Tax Benefit payments per child from In the first Abbott budget attempted to further wind back Family Tax Benefits. After a tough time in the Senate, several of his measures finally passed, under Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in and The cumulative effects of the policy choices since on the disposable incomes of single parent families are substantial.

We have compared how much low-income parents currently receive, compared to what they would be receiving if these changes had not been made.

Nor have we taken into account the loss of payments to families with with four or more children due to the phasing out of the Large Family Supplement from July Read more: One in four children from single-parent families live in poverty. It has happened as a result of actions by both sides of politics under prime ministers Howard, Rudd, Gillard, Abbott and Turnbull.

As with the decision to link Newstart to the consumer price index rather than wages, the effects of their decisions will widen over time. The poorest families, and their children, will increasingly fall behind the rest of the population. Read more: Housing affordability stress affects one in nine households, but which ones are really struggling? You may qualify for the parenting payment if:.

To receive some government payments, including the Parenting Payment, primary carers may be required to meet Mutual Obligation Requirements for part-time work or training. This includes relative or kinship carers and emergency and respite carers who care for children or young people on an irregular basis.

Penalties apply if you do not notify Centrelink that you were entitled to an exemption and your approval to be a carer is terminated or withdrawn. If you are with a non-government agency, you will need to request an exemption certificate annually from your caseworker.

There are changes to child care assistance from 2 July These parents may be eligible for PPS until their youngest child turns 8 eligibility depends on income and other circumstances.

Once their youngest child turns 6 when receiving Parenting Payment Single, parents are obliged to spend 15 hours per week on an approved mutual obligation activity. This obligation can be satisfied through job search, part time paid work, study or do an approved activity. Many parents use this time to study, train or prepare themselves for work. Once the youngest child turns eight, single parents may be eligible for Newstart Allowance or some other payment depending on their circumstances.

Parents on this payment are required to spend 15 hours per week on an approved mutual obligation activity see above. As a Principal Carer, there is more flexibility in your requirements to look for work.