Demography and Ageing Unit, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne 3010, Australia.
College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Adelaide 5000, Australia.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019 Feb 4;16(3):455. doi: 10.3390/ijerph16030455.
It is widely understood that households with low economic resources and poor labourmarket attachment are at considerable risk of food insecurity in Australia. However, little is knownabout variations in food insecurity by receipt of specific classes of social assistance payments thatare made through the social security system. Using newly released data from the 2016 HouseholdExpenditure Survey, this paper reports on variations in food insecurity prevalence across a range ofpayment types. We further investigated measures of financial wellbeing reported by food-insecurehouseholds in receipt of social assistance payments. Results showed that individuals in receiptof Newstart allowance (11%), Austudy/Abstudy (14%), the Disability Support Pension (12%),the Carer Payment (11%) and the Parenting Payment (9%) were at significantly higher risk of foodinsecurity compared to those in receipt of the Age Pension (<1%) or no payment at all (1.3%). Resultsfurther indicated that food-insecure households in receipt of social assistance payments enduredsignificant financial stress, with a large proportion co-currently experiencing "fuel" or "energy"poverty. Our results support calls by a range of Australian non-government organisations, politicians,and academics for a comprehensive review of the Australian social security system.
人们普遍认为，澳大利亚经济资源匮乏、劳动力市场依附性差的家庭面临着严重的粮食不安全风险。然而，人们对于通过社会保障体系发放的特定类别的社会援助金的领取情况与粮食不安全之间的差异知之甚少。本文利用新发布的 2016 年家庭支出调查数据，报告了一系列不同类型的支付方式下粮食不安全发生率的差异。我们进一步调查了领取社会援助金的粮食不安全家庭报告的财务福利措施。结果表明，与领取老年金（<1%）或根本没有领取任何款项（1.3%）的人相比，领取新起点津贴（11%）、学习津贴（14%）、残疾抚恤金（12%）、照顾者津贴（11%）和育儿津贴（9%）的人面临着更高的粮食不安全风险。结果还表明，领取社会援助金的粮食不安全家庭承受着巨大的经济压力，很大一部分家庭同时面临着“燃料”或“能源”贫困。我们的研究结果支持了一系列澳大利亚非政府组织、政治家和学者的呼吁，要求对澳大利亚社会保障体系进行全面审查。
