Stunning new data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) shows the abysmally low rate of jobseeker means at least 3,000 more unemployed Australians die each year than would be the case were they not purposefully kept in poverty.

We often talk about how tough it is for those on jobseeker. But last week a report from the AIHW titled “Mortality outcomes among people receiving income support” shows talk is cheap when people are dying.

The report found that Australians on jobseeker are up to 10 times more likely to die than those not on welfare support.

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In 2022, the rate of deaths for 35- to 44-year-olds not living on welfare support was 30 per 100,000. By contrast, the rate was 288 per 100,000 for those on jobseeker – 9.6 times greater.

Can someone explain why – in an economy in which the central bank has decided we need almost 700,000 people to be unemployed – those people live in such dreadful poverty that it can make you up to 10 times more likely to die in the prime of your life?

The Reserve Bank believes we need unemployment to be 4.5% to 5% to keep inflation stable. At that level, they believe total household income is such that we won’t buy too much stuff and there........

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