Seniors slam dole retirement claims
A seniors lobby has slammed as “appalling” a federal government department submission that claims baby boomers are retiring on the dole.
A Department of Employment submission to a Senate inquiry into the government’s welfare bill stated that it was “no longer acceptable for 55 to 59 year old jobseekers to effectively retire on Newstart while undertaking a bit of voluntary or part time work”.
“Claims that the over 50s are deliberately choosing to retire on the dole is a disgraceful, ill-informed distortion,” says Michael O'Neill, National Seniors chief executive.
“It is an insult to the thousands of jobseekers who can’t get an interview, let alone a job, simply because of their age,” he says..
According to Mr O'Neill, people in their 50s are still raising families, paying off mortgages and worrying if they’ll have enough for retirement.
“No one in those circumstances chooses to fall onto the dole. To suggest that the Newstart Allowance, which at $257 a week is $130 less than the Age Pension, is considered a ‘retirement option’ is nothing but nonsense,” he says.
For more than a decade, older workers have been the first to go in redundancies, and, as long term unemployment rates consistently attest, the last to be re-hired.
The result for Australia is a loss to the economy of $16.2 billion a year in not utilising the skills and experience of older people who want to work.
Human Rights Commission research shows that a 5% increase in paid employment of Australians aged 55 plus would add $48 billion per annum to the economy.
