Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Two weeks ago the latest results from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey, otherwise known as the HILDA survey, were released. The survey results painted a picture about the life of single parents that was devastating. Unlike other family types, who experienced a boom in household wealth, single parents witnessed a substantial decline in their median income between 2016 and 2018. Single-parent families also had a sharp increase in poverty rates, rising from 15 per cent in 2016 to 25 per cent in 2018. The researchers were surprised that such a large increase had occurred over such a short period of time. I was devastated the read the poverty rate for children in single-parent families increased from 16 per cent to 28 per cent between 2016 and 2018. There was also a steep fall in the use of formal child care by single-parent families, possibly demonstrating that single parents can't afford child care.

I want to stress tonight that these are not just statistics; they are devastating trends about the real-life impacts on single parents and their children, and these can be lifelong impacts. Many researchers have looked at the outcomes for children growing up in poverty. If poverty isn't addressed early on, children can carry the scars with them into adulthood. Children living below the poverty line are more likely to experience deprivation in their relationships with friends, yelling in the home, less enjoyment in exercise, inadequate fruit and vegetables, mental ill-health, lower school attendance and learning at home, and less involvement in extra-curricular activities like sport. Kids growing up in poverty too often go to bed hungry, feel left out and worry about their parents. We would all agree that kids growing up in Australia deserve better.

The results from the HILDA survey show the consequences of decisions by the Howard and Gillard governments when they forced single parents onto the Newstart payment as soon as their youngest child turned eight. The Howard government started it and then the Gillard government moved those grandfathered single parents on to Newstart. It is a clear indication that parenting payment single must be reinstated until the youngest child in the family turns 16. As we can see today, this political decision has condemned hundreds of thousands of children to a life of disadvantage and poor wellbeing—direct life consequences.

The government is condemning even more single-parent families to poverty by further cutting the coronavirus supplement. The original rate of the coronavirus supplement of $550 a fortnight had a transformative effect for single parents and their children. Before the pandemic, single parents were struggling to put fresh food on their tables and had to borrow money from friends or payday lenders, and some found it difficult to leave abusive relationships. The National Council of Single Mothers and their Children has since reported single parents being able to afford healthy food, being able to buy their kids an ice cream and being able to help them participate in school activities. We need to do better. Single parents, especially single mothers, in this country deserve better. We have some solutions at our fingertips. We can act now by retaining the coronavirus supplement at the higher rate of $550 a fortnight, we can immediately increase the rate of the JobSeeker payment so these families do not have to live below the poverty line and we can reinstate the single parent payment to single parents until their youngest child turns 16.

This survey result clearly demonstrates the real-life impacts of cutting payments to single-parent families. Hundreds of thousands of children are growing up in poverty. Their wellbeing has been damaged and their lives have been scarred by the fact that they've been condemned to live in poverty as a direct result of decisions taken by the Howard government and the Gillard government. Fix it before too many more children's lives are damaged by these damaging policy decisions.