More of us are working less.
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At least, that’s what the latest employment figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics is telling us.
The September 2016 labour force stats were released by the bureau on Thursday.
It showed what we’ve all thought, that part-time employment is on the rise.
Using the bureau’s trend terms, there are 11,800 more Australians employed in part-time positions compared to this time last year.
There are 7900 less Australians in full-time employment.
The bureau’s labour and income branch program manager Jacqui Jones said there were 130,000 more people working part-time now than in December last year, and 54,100 less working full-time.
In Tasmania, the unemployment rate stands unchanged month-on-month at 6.7 per cent, in trend terms.
In original numbers, that is 16,300 unemployed Tasmanians.
We’re about to enter the silly season (it’s a little over two months away now – time to slip out of your denial) and that’s when the financial strain really hits.
The pressure of presents, the pressure of travelling to family, the pressure of making sure that you’re keeping up with the Joneses next door.
Meanwhile, if we believe the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and I’m inclined to, we’re working less.
Not only that, we’re being slugged with more fees.
Just this week it was announced the Australian Medical Association recommended a price rise for GP visits of $2 per appointment.
For some it may seem like peanuts, but for a family that’s been unable to get on the list of one of Northern Tasmania’s scarce bulk-billing medical centres and has two parents working part-time, it’s a tipping point.
We’ve got record amounts of mortgage repayment arrears, ahead of the national three-year high.
Some welfare benefits for those trying to better their job prospects by further education are in jeopardy.
And those who are picking up a few shifts here and there, while receiving income benefits, could be forced to work less hours before their support is affected.
Australia and Tasmania’s working poor is one of those sectors of society that is hard to get a concrete number on.
That means it’s hard to help them.
And it’s even easier to further disadvantage them.
While the state government has reiterated its commitment to creating more jobs in Tasmania – “Confidence is up across industries and that’s leading to businesses employing more Tasmanians,” Treasurer Peter Gutwein said this week – it must not forget our underemployed.
The ones who are clocking 10 to 12 hours at week at a part-time job.
Those who juggle two casual jobs, never sure what their weekly income total will be.
The debate around penalty rates for casual workers still rages.
It will no doubt ignite fully again this summer as consumers look for a Sunday arvo coffee and business owners rub their foreheads over the bottom line.
Would we be better off if everyone was in a part-time job?
Would we be better off if they were abolished altogether?
Is more casual workers the answer?
Hopefully we find out before it is too late.