Living Low Paid: new research on Australia’s working poor

4 April 2006

The first results of research investigating the experiences of low paid workers in Australia will be released tomorrow (Wednesday 5 April) in Melbourne.

The ‘Low Pay Project’, funded by the Australian Research Council, union bodies (LHMU, SA Unions, VTHC, Unions NSW) and the Brotherhood of St Laurence, examines the effects of low pay on workers and their households.

Interviews and focus groups with low paid workers earning less than $500 per week, $14 per hour or $26,700 per annum were conducted by leading social researchers from the University of South Australia, University of Adelaide, University of Sydney and RMIT University.

“Early results indicate that for many Australians, work is no longer a guarantee against poverty,” Chief Investigator of the project, Barbara Pocock from the University of South Australia said today.

“Low paid workers are struggling to meet the basics in life and this not only impacts upon the workers themselves but their households and children are also suffering.”

Professor Pocock said the Low Pay Project is unravelling entrenched myths about low paid workers.

“It has been suggested low paid workers might need to consider social security or a second job,” Professor Pocock said.

“But many of the workers we spoke to have already adopted these strategies and still struggle to make ends meet. And suggestions that low paid workers are safely ensconced in higher income households do not stand up to our research results.

“It appears likely that the Federal Governments WorkChoices Act will lead to increases in the number of low paid workers and this research highlights that more and more Australian families can expect to live on the edges of poverty on a permanent basis.”

The first results of the Low Pay Project will be presented at the Low Pay in the Australian Service Sector forum tomorrow, 5 April 2006, 10:00am-12:00pm, Sem. Rms 1-2, Storey Hall, RMIT University, 344 Swanston St, Melbourne.

Speakers: Chief Investigators of the Low Pay Project – Professor Barbara Pocock, University of South Australia and Dr John Buchanan, ACIRRT, University of Sydney.

Download the Barbara Pocock paper ‘Living Low Paid: Some Experiences of Australian Childcare Workers and Cleaners’

Download John Buchanan's 'Low paid employment - a statistical profile'

Media contact: Michelle Low 03 9483 1371 or 0413 948 535