Why is Australia's welfare system so cruel and inhumane, with the job-seeker payment being set below the poverty line? Consecutive governments from both major parties are equally behind it

Literal Australian study bud: "enefit eligibility requirements intend to incentivize the unemployed to find work more quickly. Our results, in an Australian context, suggest that those subjected to benefit eligibility requirements, despite searching at least as hard, take longer to find employment. Moreover, they spend less time in employment in the first twelve months and, if employed, have jobs with lower wages and fewer hours compared to otherwise similar unemployed without benefit eligibility requirements. *** Our findings are consistent with cognitive theories that emphasize that benefit eligibility requirements externalize job search motivation and increase stress, both of which reduce employment search effectiveness. ***" - Grow up. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13504851.2021.1927960

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