Half a Citizen Life on Welfare in Australia

by Murphy, John; Murray, Suellen; Chalmers, Jenny; Martin, Sonia; Marston, Greg

• ISBN13: 9781742376059
• ISBN10: 1742376053
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-10-01
• Publisher: Allen & Unwin

Summary

What is it really like to be unemployed and on welfare? How do you make ends meet? Does the welfare system actually help people get back into jobs?

Author Biography

John Murphy (Author) : JOHN MURPHY is Associate Professor in the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne. His most recent book is A Decent Provision: Australian welfare policy, 1870 to 1949 (Ashgate, 2011). SUELLEN MURRAY is Associate Professor in the Centre for Applied Social Research at RMIT University. Her most recent book, with John Murphy and others, is After the Orphanage: Beyond the children's home (UNSW Press, 2009). JENNY CHALMERS is Senior Research Fellow at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales. SONIA MARTIN is Manager, Through School to Work in the Research and Policy Centre at the Brotherhood of St Laurence and Honorary Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne. GREG MARSTON is Associate Professor in the School of Social Work and Human Services, The University of Queensland. Suellen Murray (Author) :

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. vii
List of abbreviations	p. ix
List of tables and figures	p. xi
The receiving end of welfare	p. 1
The context: The Australian welfare system	p. 5
Narratives and themes	p. 13
Poverty, deprivation, resilience	p. 22
Hovering above or below the poverty line	p. 23
Missing out	p. 28
Juggling and making ends meet	p. 36
Fearing the future	p. 41
Housing	p. 47
Housing status	p. 50
Housing stories	p. 52
Forms of shelter	p. 56
Social connections	p. 68
Left out	p. 70
Stigma and social isolation	p. 73
Social networks	p. 76
Civic engagement	p. 83
Working lives
Work histories	p. 91
The importance of paid work	p. 94
Aspirations for the future	p. 105
Barriers to and support for working	p. 113
The changing world of paid work	p. 115
Health	p. 118
Employment services for the unemployed	p. 123
Transitions into paid work	p. 131
Welfare as work: Dealing with Centrelink	p. 138
Help	p. 141
A day at the office	p. 145
Working for welfare	p. 149
The risks of work and welfare	p. 158
Values and ethics about income support	p. 165
Respect and recognition	p. 168
Shame and stigma	p. 172
Values and the welfare state	p. 177
Afterword: In the no-standing zone	p. 189
The research project	p. 194
The characteristics of our participants	p. 201
Notes	p. 206
Bibliography	p. 221
Index	p. 233
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