Like what you've read?

On Line Opinion is the only Australian site where you get all sides of the story. We don't
charge, but we need your support. Here�s how you can help.

  • Advertise

    We have a monthly audience of 70,000 and advertising packages from $200 a month.

  • Volunteer

    We always need commissioning editors and sub-editors.

  • Contribute

    Got something to say? Submit an essay.


 The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
On Line Opinion logo ON LINE OPINION - Australia's e-journal of social and political debate

Subscribe!
Subscribe





On Line Opinion is a not-for-profit publication and relies on the generosity of its sponsors, editors and contributors. If you would like to help, contact us.
___________

Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

The fair go is fact, not political platitude

By Benjamin Herscovitch - posted Thursday, 16 May 2013


With the controversy over the adequacy of unemployment benefits heating up again, the divide between the haves and the have nots has resurfaced this budget season.

The 2013 budget initiative to allow Newstart Allowance recipients to earn more before their government payments are docked has been decried as inadequate by the welfare lobby, the Greens, and Labor MPs, including Doug Cameron.

Having called the Newstart Allowance the 'antithesis of a fair go' in March, Cameron and others want it raised by $50 a week.

Advertisement

The chorus of support for increasing unemployment benefits is the most recent example of an underlying schizophrenia in the national psyche: Although we have long prided ourselves as a society that offers a fair go to all, many of us suspect the most vulnerable and disadvantaged members of the community miss out on the assistance they need.

Despite creeping doubts that Australia does not live up to the promise of a fair go, the numbers show the fair go is still more fact than fiction.

With the right combination of ambition and ability, success is open to Australians from any background, while Australia's dynamic meritocracy is one of the most socially mobile in the industrialised world.

With many of us rising from the proverbial rags to riches, the American dream is actually an Australian reality.

Approximately 12 per cent of sons born into the poorest 20 per cent of families make it to the wealthiest 20 per cent. Given that only 27 per cent of the sons from this bottom fifth stay there as adults, a full 73 per cent of sons from the poorest families are able to improve their lot in life and earn more than their fathers.

Australia's social escalator moves so quickly that the poorest Australians can find fortune in just a few years.

Advertisement

Between 2001 and 2009, more than 5.5 per cent of individuals from the poorest 20 per cent of the population entered the wealthiest 20 per cent.

This means that in the space of less than a decade, more than one twentieth of the poorest Australians became some of the wealthiest.

On top of massive movement up the earnings distribution, social mobility is also the norm rather than the exception when it comes to education and profession.

  1. Pages:
  2. Page 1
  3. 2
  4. All


Discuss in our Forums

See what other readers are saying about this article!

Click here to read & post comments.

29 posts so far.

Share this:
reddit this reddit thisbookmark with del.icio.us Del.icio.usdigg thisseed newsvineSeed NewsvineStumbleUpon StumbleUponsubmit to propellerkwoff it

About the Author

Dr Benjamin Herscovitch is a Beijing-based research fellow at the Centre for Independent Studies and previously worked for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Follow him on Twitter @B_Herscovitch.

Other articles by this Author

All articles by Benjamin Herscovitch

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Article Tools
Comment 29 comments
Print Printable version
Subscribe Subscribe
Email Email a friend
Advertisement

About Us Search Discuss Feedback Legals Privacy