Could You Survive On The Breadline? | Complete Series | ENDEVR Documentary

foreign could you survive on welfare it's a question that's divided the nation the rising cost of living is leaving the unemployed in Dire Straits people living on jobs Seeker need a greater level of support people are unable to cover basic cost of living such as housing food transport health care and utilities it's easy to get fire on welfare you Jaden mate but increasing welfare would cost taxpayers billions the best film with welfare is a job Mr Speaker we're making it too easy for them to say I don't need to work I've seen grandfathers Fathers and Sons all on unemployment benefits why Australia spends over 180 billion dollars a year on welfare I'm on the Disability Pension job Seeker payment more than the health education and defense budgets combined I get seven hundred dollars a fortnight but is that enough all politicians sometimes need to step out of the office I think living on the dolls easy they've never been on warfare I need to come down onto my level and see what it's like to live like this three prominent Australians are going on a journey into Australia's welfare system New South Wales greens MP Jenny Leong believes we should be doing more for the disadvantaged we need to be demanding that this government takes firm action to ensure no one is too poor to be able to live but does she or her political colleagues really understand what life is like on the breadline as Member of Parliament you are so privileged people that are in ministerial positions that have drivers that have staff and then those people they reckon they could get by on the welfare that is basically putting people in poverty there's no way Caleb bond is a sky news commentator and News Corp journalist the hell is toxic masculinity I mean what about toxic femininity when are we going to start talking about that he's compared welfare recipients to heroin users the welfare system it's not meant to be an income it's not meant to be necessarily comfortable Julie Goodwin is an author TV presenter radio host and household name you are Australia's first Master Chef the reason I'm going on this journey is I certainly know what it's like to not have money in the bank there's always been a stigma surrounding collecting unemployment but I had to do that when I was younger and I felt the stigma of having to do that I would hope that our views of it are changing but I'm not so sure they are for nine days all three are going to live on the welfare system if cash is this tight I'm pretty much happy to do anything oh I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel slightly uncomfortable they'll be meeting and living with fellow Australians who know what life is really like on welfare this is how we have to live like sake isn't that what the government's supposed to do in the first place there must be a bit of DV in the next um block the further I go along this journey the more traumatic and devastating Things become like I've done everything that I can I think it's criminal that the welfare that they're on is not enough for them to eat with do people deserve more a lot of people probably don't understand what it's like or have millions of Australians simply become reliant on the welfare system [Music] 21 year old Caleb Bond started work as a Cadet journalist at the age of 16 in his home city of Adelaide people from Adelaide are very fun you know Alexander Downer and and people like this people compare me to Christopher Pine all the time I get along with Christopher quite well he's a very fun bloke for the next three days Caleb will be trying to get by with people on various forms of welfare [Music] I don't believe in a welfare system that would replace a job it's there as a safety net and it should be there as a safety net Caleb's meeting Pierre who lives on the disability support pension the DSP supports almost four percent of the Australian population who are unable to work due to a permanent medical condition how are you Mike good nice to meet you here pleased to meet you and what's your birthstone this is Caesar Caesar how long you had it um 12 and a half years he's got 52 to go she Jesus so he probably outlived me and if you don't look after yourself he might live you as well Pierre so my little treat in life is a coffee and a cigarette every morning and that makes me feel like a normal citizen Believe It or Not gets me out the house how can I buy you a coffee it's gonna be great Pierre receives a payment of 840 a fortnight this needs to cover rent electricity food and medical bills yeah um and one of the things that I would say annoys me is when you see people who are on welfare who might spend their money on uh alcohol or cigarettes so this is your one day is it yeah in fact I have to make a decision we'll see how much um I've got to go to get some food today but I was hoping you could squeeze another packet of cigarettes in before pension day so I just got a tight budget at the moment and I've got to buy these guys some food because they're nearly out that's something I'm going to keep in mind Caesar what's your illness irritable bowel syndrome so what what do you deal with day to day I can uh maybe not hold food down it's not the vomit when it gets really bad and I have an attack I'll vomit for days on end really wind up in hospital because I won't have dehydrating and on a drip out of Pierre's pension he pays 25 for his social housing flat leaving him 45 dollars a day to live on for the next two days Caleb will experience what Pierre's life on welfare is really like welcome to the the Abode you'll have to excuse me I haven't done normal cleanup with the parrots this morning [Music] Pierre rescues injured and sick Birds he pays for their Rehabilitation out of his own pension this is monkey right monkey fell out of his nest about six years ago that's Joan of Arc and that's Winston Churchill I like Winston so I took him down and my local vet and two thousand dollars later big operation he's getting cars for months and so I've got a two thousand dollar bill for a bird I don't even own and I'm paying off at the moment where do you get two thousand dollars I don't I'm just having to he's generous enough to run the bill up for me and allow me three or four years to pay it off I mean I just paid 200 bucks off that last week because I've got a big behind I had the money there it means I've got no money till Thursday you find yourself having to put the birds ahead of yourself oh definitely like if if it's if it gets to a choice and I go without food or they go over that food it's I can tell you which one goes Pierre suffers from a chronic form of irritable bowel syndrome that's highly debilitating could you find a job um not really with the illness so I'm not sure I'd be capable of doing so what what is your IBS like now well this morning I got up and threw up all the oil off my stomach um and it seems to settle down now um how often would that happen at least three four times a week did you ever um think when you were younger that you might be able to go back to work it didn't really dawn on me and that's the other thing too is that you know it took me years to admit that I had a disability how much income would you have to earn to have your benefits cut off I think you're allowed to earn 106 36 a week so you would be worse off if you were what right was off you you got to make the most of what you got really let's face it it's nice of Peter to let me into his life and let me sleep in his house this one was rescued about six months ago flew into a window Pierre scrapes by on the DSP but to be perfectly honest I don't know whether I'm going to change my mind [Music] greens member for Newtown Jenny Leong is traveling to Wollongong to see what it's like living on welfare in Regional Australia I grew up in Adelaide in what was probably a very standard middle class comfortable life [Music] when I was a student I was on our study but I was always in a situation where my parents were relatively comfortable I knew that if something big happened in my life I could have the benefit of ringing my parents and asking to borrow money she'll be moving in with 41 year old shanine hi Jenny hello was it a good trip I'm Jenny Janine yeah yeah nice to meet you to meet you yeah you too yeah good thank you for meeting me Janine lives on the job Seeker allowance 25 of her payment goes on renting a two-bedroom flat through social housing which leaves her with thirty dollars a day so how long have you been grew up in Wollongong in shanine's spare room for free I've been living here like in this unit block for six months there's quite a lot of crime drugs is just right [Music] 10 minutes drive from the Wollongong CBD is the estate shanine lives in you'll notice that there's it's quite camera it up there was a elderly gentleman that got um killed so everyone was standing over him for his pay and stuff and eventually they took him up to the service station at the top of the street got his pension out and then they killed him and left him and they left him in this um laundry block here I was there for a few days people were stepping over him to do their laundry so yeah I usually have to lock my screen door because yeah as you can see my my door's been kicked in quite a few times yes do you keep shoes on yeah shanine studied social work and for many years worked for the council in Aboriginal Community Development but for the past three years shanine relied on new start now called the job Seeker allowance I was in a relationship and yeah he severely beat me so um yeah look I I had I got now got acquired brain injury from the beating and I was strangled and her injuries were so severe she was forced to quit her job yeah I had to do physio I had to learn how to walk and talk again two years ago I couldn't do the printer important I was going to say that's the test right yeah I was on life support and stuff so I had no yeah I had to sort of start all over again so how how does it feel like for you living here by yourself um yeah unsafe very unsafe if there's a neighbor DV and his his partner I get anxious because I can hear it all after an earlier incident of domestic violence shanene was left unable to care for her children my two main priorities yeah try and get my kids back in my care but also to try and better my housing situation [Music] Works to a strict budget I get 550 a fortnight I'd say 150 towards Rego um around about 100 for fuel probably I think twenty dollars extra for electricity yeah and yeah about a hundred dollars on smokes yeah which will leave me with 80 bucks and yeah the 80 bucks that I get it would be pretty much used on the kids to go on a visit if I don't stick to my budget and I get lived with nothing for two weeks yeah right until I get paid again which I did last Fortnight yeah like I literally lived on nothing for two weeks seriously I can't even I can't even comprehend that like it's just too intense yeah nice intense for Jenny's first night Janine wants to make a special meal chicken chips and salad yeah let's do that okay cool on her welfare budget it's a rare treat I feel I guess pretty overwhelmed it's been one day it has it hasn't been a long time I think the the thing that I would say is probably the hardest habit to break so far has been the fact that and I don't know what's coming Julie Goodwin is heading to Campbelltown in Southwest Sydney she's going to see firsthand how hard it is to survive on the job Seeker allowance of 40 a day I am not convinced that I'll survive very well on forty dollars a day on its own sounds okay but then you've got rent and you've got I know petrol or public transport you've got to feed yourself and that leaves nothing like most residents of Western Sydney you need a car so Julie's been given a second-hand vehicle to get around I'm driving around on toll roads if I was surviving on forty dollars a day I don't know how I'd get by the number of people on jobseeker in Campbelltown is almost 50 percent higher than the national average some people are born with you know massive wealth behind them some people are born with huge amounts of support behind them and some are born without that people who are raised in really difficult circumstances don't have the same chances as other people to to get ahead in life Julie's new home is in crisis accommodation supplied for free by the Department of Housing as a 50 year old woman Julie falls into the highest demographic facing homelessness in Australia it's got a locking door it's got a bathroom [Music] it's about it it's a very cute little bath you have to choose which end of you you want to get wet well it's a little microwave at least I can heat things up but um not a whole lot of gourmet cookery gonna be happening in here I don't think a few few Sirens outside the door going by and gosh it's really pretty bleak if you're in a situation where you've got a flee the home you're in or you're unsafe that come to somewhere like this I think it would be I think it'd be really hard [Music] I think probably my first mission is going to be to find out where there's a supermarket or something nearby where I can go and stock up on a few supplies when I start to think of all the bits and Bobs that I might need I don't know how far this forty dollars is really gonna go on the lookout for a shopping center and straight away money is on Julie's mind I had my eyes open before I drove in here to make sure that it wasn't a a paid parking station as well we've got a couple of little tins of tuna a packet of rice I've got some broccolini and a piece of corn I've got some butter to go there for bread and I've got tea bags sugar and milk I've spent just on 27 leaving me 13. I still don't have a plate to eat off or a fork just gonna go to the the Salvo store that I spotted hello Hi how are you good thank you the plate was 50 cents and she threw the other things in for free so that's a bargain [Music] so I've been given the equivalent of the job seek payment I went out to the supermarket and I felt I shopped quite frugally I bought the cheap brand of almost everything and I still only have 12 left half of the broccolini tonight it's very simplistic to say well anyone can eat on forty dollars a day you can but it's about more than just eating this is it's about surviving and whether or not you've got an opportunity to thrive [Music] there is an incredible privilege that I have as as a very lucky individual that gets a significant wage as being a member of Parliament that means that I don't have to think about money all the time if I want to buy something I buy it New South Wales greens MP Jenny Leong is finding out firsthand about life on welfare with 41 year old Shannen how often would it be that you would eat a meal that would be like meat and like um you kind of fresh salad and everything like that rather than baked beans and stuff probably once a fortnight yeah yeah I know it comes to my payday I'll usually pour all my pay out yeah so that I can Penny count and like I smoke cigarettes so therefore it's like you know what I mean I sometimes I have to think oh do I want to see these or do I want to meet this week having to compromise on what to buy it wasn't always an issue for shaneen dropping from that big work wage to Centrelink benefits was probably the hardest thing for me because I would say self-sufficient thank you no no worries like many women in shanine's situation she has no choice but to accept social housing what you've just described in terms of like you know the planning and the shopping and the cooking and the enjoying all of that it's like it is way more of a load than anyone else there is privilege has to do in addition to all the other stress you're having and if it's not that then it's the screaming kids and yeah yeah like a lot of them like I don't know if you notice but a lot of them live outside yeah you know what I mean yeah yeah just hang out yeah it's not you that we're looking at all right well then go no one's asking you to be here if you don't live here don't complain now rude nobody needs yeah hopefully when when it gets dark it'll quieten down a bit but usually it's party time when the kids get stuck so so we might go up to the shop before it gets done I was going to say we should do that yeah yeah yeah Janine has run out of cigarettes and I feel like at least I can do um if I'm staying at her house is to offer to buy a packet of cigarettes a packet of cigarettes will cost thirty dollars which is Janine's total daily allowance after rent people smoke and the idea that you can only smoke if you're rich or you can only drink alcohol if you're rich I think it's just a really problematic concept a packet of holiday 20s blue some people would say that smoking cigarettes is an essential hello can I get a packet of holiday 20s please things but as someone that used to smoke I would say that if you are addicted to cigarettes then the level of stress that it will cause you if you can't have a cigarette is significant just the cigarettes thank you [Music] Caleb is living with Pierre who for over 20 years has lived on the disability support pension come we're gonna go and get a haircut all right now behave yourself the welfare system exists basically to support people who need to be supported it's not meant to be an income per se it's not meant to be something that you exist on for a long time it's not meant to be a necessarily comfortable hi Taylor yes Pierre's neighbor Lizzy supplements her own aged pension by offering five dollar haircuts to fellow residents I'm all right today thank you 15 old years you said you've been cutting here yeah yeah and so I've been in the supply Department of Housing since uh 85. in this flat yep I paid 250 a fortnight and you think you'll um stay here till you I hope so in the Box yeah but I did my hairdressing apprenticeship in the 60s and then I traveled the world and get a lot of other stuff I went to Vietnam as a go-go dancer in 1968 right and then I went to America and didn't have a green card so I auditioned as a psychedelic fun house and became and I traveled the world I loved doing that that was just a wonderful job I really enjoyed it no money in it unless you're working on the side or you know like you're a very clever person what do you think about this handsome are you happy with this I'm wrapped okay I just do it around the edges how do you find living on the pension I'm grateful I get it but it's a struggle it's not enough um it's got to be enough love you know that's what you're surviving on you understand what I mean you don't get to go to the theater anymore you know you don't even to the swimming pool it's eight dollars to the end of the switch minor things that people take for granted with going to the pictures yeah yeah none of that because you don't have that money you know and that's great you know I'm grateful what do you reckon monkey look good you like it [Music] but I mean what did you say you haven't had a haircut in years did you say as you've heard little you know all these little things add up and you just wind up going without them and that's one that's not necessary you know so it's not going to kill you if you don't have a haircut does it feel like a luxury oh of course it does and you really wreck to have it after this is something you wanted to do for a long time and I want to do so of course it feels good yeah so how much extra do you think you should be getting a week standard I think would be 65 a day what what would that extra 100 bucks a week let you do three meals on the table look it's not you're not going to be really well off lying in luxury sitting back um champagne on a daily basis it just gives you the three meals pays your rent and you might be able to go to the pictures once a month I think if if Pierre wanted to do better on the money he has he would have to budget carefully and I'm not sure Pierre is doing that for many Australians on welfare trying to make ends meet can mean making tough choices on what to go without unemployed Australians are 23 more likely to experience food insecurity you need to spend money to eat well you need to exercise to be well and and all of those things can be Out Of Reach if you are living on a few dollars a day Southwestern Sydney Julie is traveling to meet Uncle Dave to see firsthand how important food drops are in the community good morning Julia glad to see you very well thank you Christian nice to meet you Chris Uncle Chris is it nice to meet you too Uncle Dave with help from Uncle Chris and Christian operates a self-funded charity taking food donations to the less advantaged so we're gonna we're gonna take you around today to show you the food drop we'll be doing and get your get your hands on and you know we do this every every day of the week so yeah okay yes every day it's really a big Journey for USA Christian you know to make sure that we deliver on the front line to the to the families that are haven't got no food make sure they've got food for their kids to put on the table [Music] for 12 years Uncle Dave has lived on the job Seeker allowance for over 55s 15 hours a week voluntary work makes him eligible for the payment I live on 540 a fortnight I get three hundred dollars taken out on rent a hundred dollars for food and a hundred dollars for electricity so you told me what's left forty dollars at the height of the pandemic demand for food relief from Charities across Australia increased by almost 50 percent wow [Music] yeah that's brilliant this is amazing on so many different levels oh food that the supermarkets would have discarded would have gone into landfill is now being collected by the uncles and distributed throughout the community oh wow that's fantastic on average indigenous Australians have lower levels of employment and income a lot of people out here at the moment they're doing it pretty tough they feel like they failed you know and it's like you haven't failed you haven't got a job yeah an alternative control stacks and nice greens here I'll distribute some of this to some other families as well no worries next delivery you get vegetables you get bread you get you know maybe a couple bottles of cordial or something but it all helps and so you managed to get around and share stuff with everyone even the days is up here this guy over here bye Julie see ya the last delivery of the morning is to Uncle Dave's sister Chandra hi Chandra good to meet you these are all chandras all of them yeah excellent how would you manage without these food deliveries you use it myself struggling we're both from the doll yeah um we've got health problems and stuff like that and I just done 300 shop yesterday yeah and we broke and we're struggling and struggling and struggling so this organization is a big help to us a big help yeah electricity our gas you know we've got two bills to putty yeah and then we've got a few to pay too we're left with nothing done having served prison time Chandra finds it hard to get a job so you went to prison when your kids were young I went to prison in 2016. yep I got done for robbery and Company for a mobile phone yep I've got three and a half years um that was my first time ever in prison oh well um so I done three or two and a half years straight yeah 12 months parole I wasn't allowed at home to my family it killed me yeah I'm getting very emotional it killed me to walk away from my brother and my mother yeah and not being able to kiss her yeah you know I didn't ever have to use charity never in my life what's the answer what can be done better um a little bit more funding from the government would benefit from [Music] when my boys were younger and and we had a mortgage we had to watch our budget and I was careful about what I spent on food and I'd kind of Forgotten what it was like thank you so much what Uncle Dave is doing is essential to these families people would struggle to feed themselves if they were just relying on their government welfare payment and what's extraordinary to me is that what he does is not funded by an organization the issue of Australians having enough to eat or to be on the agenda at the big end of town not just on the agenda for the people receiving welfare in the inner city Pierre also relies on charity to survive so what are you waiting for now well this is where we go to get the food once a week so we'll line up and they'll hand out a bag of food to each person and a few bits and pieces do you come every week yeah yeah but Caleb's sympathy is being tested first and foremost the the things people on will fish will be spending their money on are the essentials food water electricity the bills but Pierre is in the food Cube because he wants to buy a packet of cigarettes he said he's got about thirty dollars and he he wants to buy bird seed and a packet of cigarettes I don't think that's the right decision to make so what have you got here um well we got our fruit and veggies we've got a thing of milk apples there for the fruits for the birds I assume yeah they're pretty egg and bacon sandwich which often eat now and then some sausages sausages and some hamburgers and today it'll feed you for a week will it yeah it would choosing not to take free food Caleb's going to see if he can feed himself on a welfare budget we're at um quarter past three and I haven't eaten lunch yet um but uh I suppose I'll have to go to the supermarket and try and budget my way through it while you're going there to spend your pittance you can spend a bit of mine and if I can ask you to get me a packet of cigarettes and some seed for him a packet of that which I've sent is ten dollars and I know it's ten dollars and a pack of powmau 20 Reds I'll be perfectly honest I'm happy to buy you the seed but I would feel uncomfortable buying you cigarettes oh okay no worries what you write about my health no no I'm not worried about you no I just wondering I'm not worried about your health but I I guess I think the thing about the fact that's money that you know you could spend on food or something well I've already got as I already told you I've got enough feed to last me the first I I would personally uncomfortable okay because personally you'd make the decision of staying with the foods and buying the cigarettes I get that yeah um but as I said I've had enough for you to sustain me which is why I'm enabled to make that to to hell with the expenses we'll see when we get back no worries all right let's go in and get these cigarettes I'm hanging out for a cigarette hey Caleb's a very nice young man I think his heart seems to be in the right place but it's about what the government gives to people is alive to me that's what it's about so I really don't give a either way of what people feel about me yeah and one of my first rules in life actually is just none of my none of my business with other people think of me Caleb bond is getting a first-hand insight into life on welfare ah the supermarket having refused to buy Pierre cigarettes he's only shopping for himself and the birds I got myself some sausages and some bread and some cheese and an onion so um that'll cover I mean the sausages would be enough to cover probably two meals or even three to pinch also bought Piers bird seed which is weighing down my bag by four kilograms Caleb's decided to draw a line in the sand on purchasing cigarettes for Pierre I think Pierre's decision to spend his last 30 dollars for the week on a packet of cigarettes as opposed to food is it is a case of priorities being out of whack I am making judgments about how he spends his money I mean ultimately that money has come out of the pockets of me and other taxpayers [Music] I I don't think it's unfair for me to judge or question the way he spends his money if if you're on welfare sometimes you don't get to enjoy Simple Pleasures every day I got myself some bread which will go with some sausages marked down all the 25 cents yeah it forces and you know and I figured you know um there's what eight sausages in there I mean you could make that into three meals yeah can you imagine if you did that for a few months you'd get really good at it a bit of sausage and bread which I must say can hit the spot I think the welfare system should fundamentally make sure that everyone has the ability to live hey I've spoke to join out a bit everyone there are people who are genuinely needy and deserve the help of welfare which is something that we as a civil society provide through our taxes I don't eat like normal people like one meal a day perhaps two sometimes that's it and that's because of your IBS and anyone who abuses that system is fundamentally insulting people who actually do require welfare in peace it's Julie's second day living on the welfare system even without having to pay rent she's low on food and petrol and only has a few dollars left from her forty dollar a day allowance so I'm off to spend some time with Uncle Chris and I believe that we're going to try and supplement that income a little bit today we'll be um picking up bottles and cans yeah absolutely so you're up for that oh totally turn and earn is a government Initiative for every bottle or can recycled you earn 10 cents so 10 cents a bottle um like what what's your Haul on a week weekly basis maybe twenty thirty dollars twenty or thirty dollars a week yeah hey that's all right other people are making more there's a couple here look at that eh yeah a lot of people don't like you're going through bins okay some days are good some days are bad but yeah it's a fair bit of work just for a little bit of money isn't it yeah [Music] while looking for bottles I'm Chris and Julie come across 64 year old pension at Helen after I pay all my bills and everything I have about four hundred dollars to live on yeah and that's in a fortnight that's from a fortnight so yeah 200 a week yeah to buy food 200 a week and that yeah and how do you manage well what you do you just budget you've got to really budget hard you just kind of survive I've got investemia yeah okay stage four oh wow so yes I've got a lot of medication that I've got to buy yeah puffers I just had a heart attack four weeks ago because the industry has damaged my heart because I get a loan of Centrelink at Christmas time because of us I've got hating grandkids and my great-grandmother of four so at Christmas you get a loan so that you can buy them I think so I can buy them little presents and then you pay that off over the years yes okay and that leaves you under 30 a day yeah yeah for medication food emergencies public transport everything yeah wow they don't give much but you do you need to survive the roof over my head [Music] my heart I didn't think I took a lot for granted but um I I realize that I do I take a lot for granted [Music] it's Caleb's last day with Pierre before he continues his welfare experience on his own I've camped before so it ain't me worse than that are you taking the toilet are you oh all right morning anyway sorry good morning ah morning mate sorry a lot of people that probably don't understand what it's like to live in a joint like this Housing Commission joint mode where are we now I've heard the stories I've seen around the joint I've I've seen what it's like um I could only speak from my experience which is that some public housing is awful um and that's a fact Pierre's morning routine involves taking care of his Birds see how quick and easy that is all right who's hungry birdie num Noms time go on it would appear that my best efforts to stop the birds eating my bread has not worked it's Cleopatra that's a bird as Cleopatra has eaten my bread I suppose from a basic perspective peers Birds I I think are probably his best friends or his closest companions are you basically said they're like his children to him have you got newspaper um yeah I suppose it's why he makes decisions like he did yesterday about getting free food because it allows him to fund his pets which on one hand I would argue isn't the best use of money but on the other hand I understand why he wants to have them and what they mean to him and the struggle he might have if he didn't have it's opened my eyes to something I hadn't considered before there is children there is dependence I love them they love me that's a pretty good thing I reckon and there's a reason for me to be around really Caleb's time with Pierre has come to an end but as a journalist he still wants to know more about people living on the DSP Pierre is on disability support pension because he can't work so there's not necessarily the element of encouragement needed for someone like that to go and get a job so would I be open to the possibility of people on disability support pension receiving more money perhaps I would all right Pierre thank you very much no worries mate take care maybe you're leaving an extra fifty dollars to to live a decent life [Music] how safe do you feel wandering around at night I don't this pretty much is a Crossroads for people like myself that have survived domestic violence being in a living situation like this it's actually traumatic reported incidents of domestic violence in this part of Wollongong are 20 above the national average yeah this is like a regular occurrence sadly it's like I think they'll be just here yesterday too yeah oh here they come wow yeah that's all that's minimal really yeah that means that there's not that much happening there must be a bit of DV in the next um book you can hear it screaming [Music] yeah right we actually all thought he was inside because now he's here [Music] like it must make you feel like just edgy and nervous right yeah yeah yeah it's okay [Music] witnessing domestic violence right on her doorstep is a painful reminder for Sinead oh here comes an ambulance it feels like that's not a good sign is it [Music] it's quite sad it is full-on it's full on yeah people are just used to this stuff happening here and that's a that's a really bad sign s police are called to domestic violence incidents way too often about people that are living in this public housing don't feel as secure in their home as people do in other areas right well I might head off to bed okay thank you for having me that's okay no worries and having it happen all the time would be really stressful so here I am I in Wollongong and the main thing that I'm feeling is absolute frustration all of the exhausting stresses that Janine has to deal with in her life in addition to all of the trauma that she has been through she doesn't need that stress anymore New South Wales greens MP Jenny Leong has been living with Shani to better understand Life as a single woman on job Seeker I feel really tentative about where we're going next but the time has come to move on and go it alone I've had you know what I would call the luxury of having shanine show me around host me you know allow me to to share her home give me a comfy spare room to sleep in Jenny's heading to nearby port kembla to see what kind of accommodation she could afford on a welfare budget it's been making me think about what happens to all of those people who are completely isolated and just a given a place to live oh cool left you know in my last 20. no you didn't need to do that no no I mean I can't been here I've been like using your bloody water I've been using it all your stuff ah it's fine thank you [Music] so you have to be good at it yeah I will I will for sure [Music] I mentioning and I basically spent you know the last two days two nights together and so it feels strange to sort of be by myself the aim was to put me outside of my comfort zone and you know I think we're about to get outside of my comfort zone [Music] like many on welfare Jenny has no bond and no credit card so her only option is a room in a boarding house nearly 20 000 Australians call boarding houses home this place is costing me 30 bucks for the night for rent with my 40 bucks a day that means that I've got ten dollars to spend [Music] there's a mattress that seems good [Music] foreign security bars there and a screen door and a door because I know Janine was saying that she locks her screen door another door so you know that's a good thing I assume the fridge is working yes it feels cold that is a good thing there's no toilet we must be outside the setup of some basic things that small Rich can go outside every time that I've moved into a new place every time I've moved into a new home you do it with people and you you do it with a sense of having chosen and knowing so it's not like someone just says okay this is this is your address to go to I have heard so many stories of people sleeping on mattresses in housing and then having bed bugs it makes you feel it makes you feel worried the reality that you're living on 10 bucks a day because you need a place to stay and this place costs 30 bucks a night that is a pretty daunting Prospect [Music] this could be a lot of white wall staring over the past two days conservative commentator Caleb bond has had his Hardline views on welfare tested as I saw with Pierre getting to the end of the week or close to the end of the week and not having any money to spend on food or Essentials like that and seems pretty poor to be honest but he wants to know more about the DSP so he's traveling to nearby Redfern to meet Vic who also lives on the Disability Pension Vic's flat is in one of three large social housing blocks it's a weird feeling in this building there's a strange smell and it seems halfway between effluent and a dead animal this is a strange environment for me uh fish out of water I suppose Vic is legally blind and after rent is taken out she lives on 49 a day Vic hello my name's Caleb hang on nice to meet you come in thank you thank you it's a lovely place you've got in here you've decorated well tell me about all your visors and Buddhas I just like I just like them how long have you had your tattoos oh probably going back 20 years this one I just started to get yesterday oh okay that's a new one it's a koi but I've got to go back in two weeks to get it all colored so I could save it for my own tattoo do you find you're able to save yeah well look I'm an alcoholic but I've been sobered nine years okay I find that if you give up what addictions you have no matter what they are you know stop using them as a crutch do something with your life you can have a pretty decent life you know I mean I eat well I don't miss out on very much at all yeah you know so but you know you get all people especially you know the flats and everything say oh poor me poor man they're all junkies most of them you know and you know the government should be giving me more money well no go to rehab get clean and you can have a half decent life but it's a trade-off too with all the violence that goes on in the flats what sort of violence goes on well I've been raped multiple times here yeah home invasion assaulted multiple times and that's in Redfin if Vic just had somewhere decent to live her quality of life would just be so much better it annoys the out of me average two murders a year last few years average in this building yes I'll show you where the last guy was murdered that one in there he was murdered last December before last so who was living in there drug dealer here I'll show you the laundry room how do you feel when you walk into your laundry I start sweating in my heart beats faster every every time you come in every time I come into the laundry because someone gets you in here you're gone um do you think the pitching is enough for me it is if you want to shop smart and you haven't got any addictions I think it's fine you wouldn't give yourself any more money I'd love to get myself I'd love Morrison to give me more money but it's not feasible I don't know where people think all this money comes from I mean every dollar has to be borrowed it has to be paid back banana the government can do it they've got plenty you're saying that the money you have in your pocket is enough to live on and have some luxuries like all the stuff you you have in your house and you're getting a tattoo but what if you had extra money in your pension that allowed you to get a decent private rental I'd be out of here in a shot um you know who wants to put up with all this violence threats and you know Rick is one tough cookie she's been through a lot of but she's picked herself up and dusted herself off and she's Resolute well Vic it's about time for me to leave oh God come on my first experience with someone on the disability support pension was that they didn't seem to be able to get through the week on the money that I had I saw he is experience and thought oh well poor him we should give him more money having now seen that that Vic is able to live reasonably comfortably on the money she has and buy her own admission um enjoys quite a few luxuries I'm kind of doing a 180 from where I was yesterday I'm I'm conflicted at the moment which is you know I think it's good it's making me think about it it's what I came here to do the thing that sticks out for me that is consistent for both of them is the ship they have to put up with in Housing Commission [Music] you survive on welfare it's a question that's LED Jenny Leong Julie Goodwin and Caleb Bond on a journey after couch surfing in Surrey Hills Caleb's decided to find his own place to sleep fair enough welcome to my humble abode Jenny is spending her first night alone in Port kembla it was three dollars or 299 three dollars and so now I've a dollar and Julie continues to battle isolation in crisis accommodation actually I've found this experience of I was cooking a meal just for myself a little bit depressive but Christian when he was driving me around the other day was saying that he knows people that don't know when they get up in the morning how they're going to put a meal on the table at night they've met welfare recipients trying to get by on the job Seeker allowance and the disability support pension I've been very very close to having a cigarette the only thing that has stopped me is we now know how Bloody expensive they've become but in fact if I can work out how I'm going to cook sausages in a microwave if you think this journey has turned to be into a socialist you're wrong possibly the world's saddest bowl of mashed potato but I have more empathy now than I did before for people on welfare I've seen it now I've experienced it and to a certain degree I've lived it the welfare system it does not help people out of poverty it doesn't it just doesn't 660. there you go what we've got is not working foreign [Music] for three days Julie Jenny and Caleb have been experiencing what life is like on job seeker and the disability support pension if I don't stick to my budget and I get lived with nothing for two weeks if you give up what addictions you'll have you can have a pretty decent life in the next part of their Journey they'll need to support a family or live as a carer on welfare so I've seen how inadequate frankly welfare payments have been for single people I can't imagine that supporting a family on a welfare payment is going to be a whole lot easier more than 300 000 Australian families rely on government assistance for at least half of their income for a family of four relying solely on welfare that's as low as 33 dollars a day per person that means they are living under the poverty line in Sydney's inner West Caleb's going to see what it's like to support a family that relies on government assistance I think a welfare system should fundamentally make sure that everyone has the ability to live it's there as a safety net and it should be there as a safety net there are just over one million single-parent families in Australia a third live in poverty but I think part of the problem is that there is a welfare cycle which encourages people to stay in that system and so the the the pitfalls are sort of self-perpetuating they just sort of go on and on Marianne is a single mother of four Marianne hi Tyler hi Caleb nice to meet you come in thank you how are you all right how are you welcome to my house thank you uh this is my youngest Nayla Nayla do you want to come say hello hi she just wake up um this is Sahara hi nice to meet you to better understand Marianne's daily struggle Caleb will try to support her and the family for the next three days on their budget what I'll get you to do today was do a shop and basically house clean yep all right so you'll like my money it's wonderful let me do your hair sit on the Sip quick real quick Marianne receives a single parenting payment for her youngest child she also receives a family tax benefit for her older children it might vary from 600 to 700 a fortnight I don't receive any child support for the kids at all I haven't since [Music] pretty much they were born and that's okay Marianne's welfare payments are worth 70 a day for her and the four kids or 14 per person to supplement her welfare payments Marianne does part-time work the combined work and welfare payments total 25 a day per person that's still nine dollars less than the poverty line are you able to meet all of your expenses uh barely just scraping through I'm I'm I get scared sitting down looking at finances I do because I'm just like there's a lot more going out than coming in and I don't know by the grace of God I've been able to still survive with my kids and pay rent and be housed and feed the kids it just stresses me out my first impression when you're living on that kind of money you're thinking about money all the time like it's it's a constant level of of concern or thinking about what you can do with what you have in your pocket to support and provide for a family you need to feed them so Caleb's first task is food shopping this is three meals for five people over two days okay that's all I have 114 yep okay at 21 years old shopping for a family of five is unfamiliar territory for Caleb a bottle of passata is 2.20 compared to you know 350 for a pasta sauce Caleb has less than four dollars per person for each meal three liters of milk is 3.75 a dollar twenty or they're about to liter over here you buy two liters for 2.50 not saving a lot of money but you're saving some money and and every little bit counts I'll get a bag of carrots I've got to think about whether a four-year-old wants green beans or not let's get some rain beans I uh I'm going home with 14.90 left over which I don't think is a bad effort for essentially 10 breakfasts 10 lunches and 10 dinners so putting together a reasonably affordable and healthy diet for for 114 bucks um wasn't too difficult all the staff of Bolognese obviously I've got two loaves of bread so you've got sandwiches yep cool a whole lot of ham and cheese big thing of weet-bix oh nice yeah um so yeah uh no I really appreciate you doing the shop um but it you know looking at my family and the way that they eat it won't necessarily feed my kids all satisfied maybe one just one kid or two kids yeah unfortunately for Caleb he's failed to make the money stretch far enough when you don't have a lot of money what what is the pressure like to do that on a regular basis on your own with the money you've got it's a massive amount of pressure I am the sole Breadwinner to bring in for my kids to be able to provide throughout their whole life about what they need and shopping is actually one of them big things that I get overwhelmed with sometimes well I'd be hard not to be a little bit defeated about the food shop wouldn't it I wouldn't ordinarily shop for a family of five so um I wasn't totally in that frame of mind I guess so I didn't do the best job I could have unfortunately [Music] Australia oh opal Icarus typically looking after a family member with health issues or a disability for the next three days author and TV personality Julie Goodwin will be experiencing Life as a carer on welfare full-time carer would mean that there's not a lot of a lot of emotionally a very demanding thing to be doing as well Julie is traveling from her emergency accommodation in Campbelltown towards Liverpool she'll be helping DB care for her husband Ron good morning hi Julie hi dude all right come on in we're just getting um run ready into the shower and I'm happy for you to help us like whatever you feel comfortable with so you you tell me yeah no problem okay the couple survive on Ron's pension did you sleep well and DB's carer payment of 425 dollars a week that's it Ron good job Ron you helped me out Ron needs Around the Clock care and DB estimates she puts in over 120 hours a week go she also pays another carer Liz for about 30 hours a week good morning did you have a good sleep which means after paying Liz's wages DB earns just under three dollars an hour the national minimum wage is just over 20 an hour good job thank you give me five Liz give me five run run okay take the chair back for me Julie sorry Ron I'm new at this I think I'm stuck on the door all right so I'll show you I think so it's like three point turn oh okay okay um we've got to get him over the shower Ron spent 30 years as a factory production manager we're gonna have a shower now would you like that okay ready one two three up Church in 2014. he was diagnosed with dementia he came down with um FTD dementia it eats away at the brain or covers those brain things that tell the person how to speak their anxiety levels it renders him immobile incontinent and non-verbal so go around another three-point turn hello hello [Music] that's it how much is is Ron aware of not much he's still here and he's still in there and that that's the way that we look at it so you ready Liz that's a tough gig to be caring for someone who you've loved for decades and who you've raised children with before caring for Ron DB worked as a craft teacher a lot of carriers have given up work they've given up superannuation they've given up career advancement and now they're living off this small amount of money being Ron's full-time carer means dealing with harsh realities [Music] his wardrobe clothes that he couldn't wear he was never going to another wedding or wearing a suit or any of those things tough day um I had two because this is what's going to make me a better carer for him [Music] pretty amazing thank you that okay what's up she's given over her life as well to to care for for the man that she loves you know that's a massive sacrifice [Music] south of Sydney Jenny will be moving in with 37 year old Simone and her three-year-old son she she wants to find out what it's like living as a small family on welfare in Regional Australia knock knock really good thank you so much thanks for letting me come to your place no you're right appreciate it thank you I'll just introduce you to the baby he's in playing at the moment we work at history we were painting but he spilled the paint on himself so okay right so let's stop now oh hello everyone how are you what's his name blade blade yeah cool come back for you this way yeah sure Simone receives family tax benefits from the government she's also on a disability support pension because she has a degenerative disease which prevents her from working I had shark got married tooth um it's sort of under the unsafe my umbrella is Ms so over time my nervous system shuts down I struggle with jars hips buttons um brushing my hair grooming myself um hands get cramped up they cramped up a lot some days I don't have use of my legs yeah because she can't work Simone survives solely on welfare which adds up to 47 a day for her and her son all right so this is usually like sort of my finances yeah this is your budget folder yes okay electricity I have been paying like 150 a fortnight rent is 320 but water is also added to our brand as well so it's usually about 3 35 something like that Simone is paying more than a third of her welfare income in rent and electricity even on the highest rate of government support Simone still runs out of money days before her next payment this week I've literally got 75 left and 17 left in my savings if money is that tight like what happens if what happens if blade gets sick you know you just work around it yeah you just work around it if it comes out of the you know the Bubba's got a change tin there that we've been collected and changed every time we get a little bit of change so you know sometimes it comes down to pouring out that chain straw and stripping it there's been many a time where I've had to take you know forty dollars into dollar coins just to get things we need [Music] to have to not be able to provide them with food when they're hungry to not get them the medication they need when they're sick that is a whole other level [Music] journalist and conservative commentator Kayla bond has expressed strong opinions on welfare in the past there are people who I think are fundamentally lazy and for some reason they want to bum off welfare good on them the system obviously allows them to do it I mean people like that should be weeded out and if we want to talk about people who need welfare who need assistance I mean that's money that could be going to them but seeing firsthand what single mum Marianne has to do daily has him thinking yeah I suppose I'm interested to see how they do it how much money do you have to get by uh how much time do you have in a day to do all the stuff that needs to be done Marianne's been on and off welfare for 13 years after living through traumatic events in her past I'm actually on medication for my mental health may I ask about your mental health situation what do you deal with um post-traumatic stress depression anxiety I was homeless for a period of time yeah um due to not very positive relationship I was in and I had facts remove my kids when they were two and one why was that domestic violence right and I ended up having to try and fight for my kids in and out of court while I was in a single woman's Refuge I'm still having to get professional help and still try and be normal and still try and be the mum and present for my kids and that's bloody hard anything I can do for you let me know you've got enough to work about you know let's be honest yeah all right say bye thank you so much bye all right let's go we've got a walk now Caleb faces the reality of how much housework is required for a family of five you're wondering where do I start [Music] there's a lot of washing [Music] supposed to put a load of washing on them or seven normal load one scoop large load one and a half scoop I think we'll um count this as a large load I think Manny would make her life easier but unfortunately she's already been through a lot you know living in a situation of domestic violence and then losing your your children Etc now it would um money would help with living in the now [Music] the domestic violence abuse in Marianne's past has touched a personal nerve for Caleb domestic violence that doesn't make you angry there's something wrong with you If You Loved Someone you you wouldn't play a hand on them you shouldn't you not meant to I just I don't understand how one human being could mistreat someone they're supposed to love I don't know I I guess this has been a little bit um close to home you know I I have a girlfriend who um has gone through a lot herself she had a very difficult childhood having an alcoholic drug using parents who's concerned for who was minimal where she ended up in the the Foster system where she was sexually abused and that has lifelong ramifications [Music] Rosie deals with that stuff very well I see that in Marianne she's damned if she's gonna let that stop her I suppose I see a lot of parallels here do you really care about people don't you of course I do of course I care about people it's it's a fallacy that that being right wing means you don't care about people the you know the left like sometimes like to think that they've got a monopoly on it but they don't [Music] at DB and Ron's house in Sydney's West morning Ron I've got a bit of egg for you first Julie is first hand life as a carer okay next one okay Ron here it comes there you go for DB the role of carer has become all-consuming even with help from support worker Liz just mean Liz just went out for the first time in 13 months oh that's too long without a break right yeah but that's normal for most carers yeah that that's normal I'm happy to go without um I don't remember the last time I bought something [Music] that's hard but with dementia you grieve why they're still here because I know that I'm losing my husband and the government not doing what it can and what it ought to do [Music] um [Music] DB believes Home Care should always be properly supported by government as an alternative to nursing homes not everyone can Home Care um not everyone wants to home care but for those that that can we try to do it for as long as because we know that they have more connection more people visit like we do all our entertaining here you can't do that in a nursing home you're stuck with whatever program they give it's not that personable even though DB and Ron have paid off their home with DB effectively receiving about three dollars an hour from the government as a carer money is still very tight so she has to find other ways to make ends meet one of the Lifesavers has actually been Food Bank Food Bank yes so that's some run by our local church so we pay eight dollars a fortnight and for that we get quite a lot of food so we get um loads of fruit and vegetables we get some meat in that occasionally for eight dollars a fortnight for eight dollars a fortnight wow yeah it's quite a blessing without charitable input into your household the Disability Pension the carers pension the carer's allowance I'm not enough for the two of you to live on never enough it's it's not even close I I think it's criminal that the welfare that they're on is not enough for them to eat with that shouldn't be a consideration of the policy makers well they'll be all right as long as there's a charity that can help them and it's not enough for her to have any kind of self-care whatsoever what that is is a recipe for Burnout and that for Ron would be disaster well what about lunch today do you have any plans um no plans how about I cook your lunch today oh oh my gosh like falling in love already again [Music] Caleb's cleaned the house done a food shop and now he needs to prepare dinner for the family yeah I've cleaned all day I'm cooking now and um so sitting a little bit harder do you know you cry when you cut onions to keep the family afloat Marianne also has a part-time job the but Caleb's realizing it's not as simple as just work more and take less welfare if I'm earning over a certain amount with the single parent then that'll mean I'll eventually have to pay full price here rental right okay whereas at the moment I have that security of that the rental here it's it's affordable for me and my four kids essentially if you were working more hours you you wouldn't necessarily be better off because you'd be paying more in rent yeah if that makes sense do you need any help with anything with anything no I reckon we're good as the self-described conservative Caleb is starting to recognize the welfare trap that people like Marianne can fall into if she decided to work a bit more or work longer hours or earn some more money she would be at risk of losing her benefit the opportunity for someone to make a few extra bucks which would then be a few extra bucks that they might not be asking for in a welfare increase they just don't really get the chance to do it the system actively encourages them not to do it but if someone wants to go and earn an extra you know 200 bucks a week or 300 bucks a week that just let them get through a bit easier I mean For Heaven's Sake so what [Music] turn that down a little bit slid it simmer away for a while [Music] dinner is ready Marianne's whole family is back for dinner including 17 year old daughter Anika and 15 year old son Cape who have just got home from school here comes a backhander and I'm quite chucked that's right thank you Jesus for the food okay good thank you it's a pleasure to eat with you and to cook for you [Music] across Australia almost four percent of the population are receiving a disability support pension half have been receiving the DSP for at least 10 years south of Sydney Jenny is staying with single mum Simone she relies entirely on welfare including a disability support pension Simone's Health has been deteriorating in recent years and she blames her living conditions I shouldn't have been looking at a wheelchair for at least another 10 years and we're then moving in here it was two years before I got my first wheelchair [Music] prep food on the house anymore what do you mean you can't prep food on the house anymore cockroaches burdens not even go and make a sandwich without something trying to run onto your plate so now most of the time we try and eat outside [Music] Simone's landlord is the Department of Housing and so this is where blade sleeps well most of the time now he sleeps in with me okay um like after the daughter came in and like he sort of said that the mold is that bad up underneath his room he said please just get your baby out of that room yeah right so you can see the mold yeah growing through yeah and that's like that'll come through on the whole window frame probably within about four days after it's been cleaned yeah it's full on yeah so you've cleaned the floors this morning someone cleaned the kitchen four days ago this is not like this is not because no one cleans the house right yeah and I mean like when we clean it we're cleaning from top to bottom every week feels like the more time we spend in the house the secret we get [Music] this is allegedly what government support looks like I don't even know how you begin to accept that that is normal that someone can say that they're living in a house like this why the does Simone have to go through this it's this is unacceptable it's completely unacceptable accepted what does it mean for Simone I don't know [Music] greens and pay Jenny Leong is staying with single mum Simone to see what life is like on welfare for a small family in Regional Australia Jenny is shaken by the living conditions at Simone's house it is a choice to not properly maintain public housing it's a choice to keep people in poverty and keep them in insecure housing that is a devastating reality Jenny decides to take things into her own hands I wanted to ask you like I know who your local member is and I've got his mobile are you happy if I try and give him a call yeah of course anything that we can do to like get this process up and running as fast as we can would be amazing labor MP Ryan Park the member for Simone's area I'm here with one of your constituents called Simone I've got you on speakerphone hi how you going I'm just ringing you because I'm I'm at Simone's house and I'm actually going to be staying with her tonight there's heaps of cockroaches and there's rats and there's also an insane amount of mold especially in her baby's room and the smell is like I know the only way housing will do anything is if an MP actually escalates the situation yeah happy to help happy to help that was Ryan well I might actually get something done yeah finally [Music] I hope so so do I so do I in Western Sydney Julie is living as a carer with DB she cares full time for her husband Ron who has advanced dementia looking sharp Ron DB has to rely on food boxes supplied by the church to have enough meals in the house they cost only eight dollars well I'm heading off down to the shops to get some ingredients to cook um it'll mainly be for Devi she often doesn't eat lunch so yeah I think it just might be nice to be cooked for sit down and have something to eat so I'll head on in and see see what I can manage [Music] back at DB's house Julie is in her element what's your favorite thing to cook Julie my pork belly roast dinner I love cooking that because I always get a lot of love for it yeah I bet you do normally cooking with what's supplied through charity this lunch is an expensive luxury for DB can I can I ask you a difficult question yeah um this is consuming your life and I know you love Ron very very much yeah you know what I'm going to ask yeah will there be a sense of relief when he passes yes and no I think because I'm a person of faith and I'm confident of where he's going that's easy for me yeah I think the hard part is not having them there anymore people got to the point where veron's at now is needing so much care that a lot of people would say well it's time to hand him over to a medical facility where you know there's nurses around the clock and able-bodied people there all the time nursing homes can only do so much but my husband deserves to be at home surrounded with his pets surrounded with um his neighbors his family with things that he knows and owns it's family and friends that make the difference Community makes the difference yeah yeah it seems to be a recurring theme that I'm hearing is that without Community pitching in the life of kept damn near impossible yeah so you know having someone like yourself cooking a meal um you know that will make a difference Julie [Music] thank you you too cheers what I'm seeing in there is extraordinary Grace and a lot of love and a lot of commitment tomorrow's going to be the same as today was the same amount of work the same struggle the same you know Financial stress the same emotional distress just day after day [Music] I wish I knew you know how to fix it [Music] it's day two of Caleb's stay with single mum of four Marianne this morning he's helping out with school lunches what do you reckon two or three pieces of ham how much would they want yeah two is great two is good and how do they like it cut uh the triangle triangle okay thank you so much say goodbye Caleb see you see ya I will see you both this evening yes thank you Marianne was up early for work but 17 year old Anika is slower to get moving good morning good morning how are you good thank you what would you normally have for breakfast I normally diet you choose not to or you just oh I just don't have time what gets in the way travel time and swaking up late 2.8 million children in Australia are being supported by at least one adult receiving welfare young people who grow up in a household that relies on welfare are almost twice as likely to end up on government support So how do you see your future what do you want to do um it's a dream to be a lawyer and I've always wanted to pursue criminal justice somehow I really don't see myself going to UNI mainly because my mum can't afford it does that make you feel upset hopeless it feels like it's just a Dream Crusher like I have really high standards for myself and I feel like I'm just wasting all that because I can't afford anything if you didn't have those dreams and aspirations how do you reckon you'd be probably fall into the same state that my mom's in to have a job be a single parent live in housing it's not much to look forward to and I guess you could say I've lowered myself a bit so I've just put it down to find a good job or a decent job do you worry that you will be reliant on welfare it's definitely a worry but it's not what I'm aiming for I'm Hein yeah to see where you get yeah and what do you think that would be able to give you um freedom and be able to make me feel like I can make something of myself even if I didn't have that extra Head Start that normal families do I know that I can work hard and get something if I want it for me as a child growing up I I didn't necessarily suffer serious adversity you know I had two parents who got married stayed together bought a house had me had my brother was it was just you know a working class child see uh oh the fact that Annika feels like being on welfare has held it back and affects her is is unfair yeah of course it is but she still sees that glimmer of hope and I just hope she never lets go of that [Music] you can't possibly prepare a meal for people with this can you in Winona south of Sydney Jenny and single mum Simone have decided to Splash out and order in Pizza is your pizzas thank you very much mate have a nice night yeah oh my gosh good good nice well Bon Appetit yeah you too have some money I'm going to talk to you about two things Ryan just texted me and he'd love to meet us here at 9 30 tomorrow beautiful so that he can come and meet you straight away so that we can make sure that this situation is sorted and then the other thing that I wanted to chat to you about is that I don't feel comfortable staying tonight but I also don't feel comfortable leaving you here I have a choice to go back to the place that I've been staying at in Port kembler I would like it if you want to come with me we can bring a sleeping bag and you can stay at my house I can completely understand where you're coming from and the reason why I understand is because for a while I used to spend quite a lot of time especially over the first 12 months out of the house because I knew it was making me crook we need to get you out of this situation and we need to make sure that Bubba is all right and we need to make sure that your animals can be with you and we need to make sure that you are not in a situation where you can't put a pizza down on the table in your own house in your own backyard yeah no I completely understand that you know this is one hard place to stay like I'm embarrassed to have you in my home and I'm not at all upset or thrown out at the fact that that's hard for you I completely get that I know that there's probably people that will think that it was weak of me to not stay there that I should have toughed it out but that to me makes it like some bizarre endurance challenge oh watch the MP spend a night in the Cockroach infested house if I lose some political Capital because some people say oh Jenny Leon couldn't tough it she couldn't stay in a cockroach infested house well they're missing the point because there should be no cockroach infested house in the first place I can't help but think how problematic it is that the further I go along this journey the more traumatic and devastating Things become and to the aircraft today I cracked and I just I couldn't cope with it in the illawarra region south of Sydney greens MP Jenny Leong is preparing to head back to see single mum Simone Jenny decided not to sleep at Simone's house because of the Cockroaches rats and mold it's not the first time I've been shocked and outraged and disgusted by the way that people are living Jenny is seeing firsthand that welfare is more than just about money the problems with housing are at the core of the poverty are at the core of the disadvantage the broken housing system is the issue everything else flows from that this morning hoping to spark some immediate action Jenny's arranged for local labor MP Ryan Park to see Simone's Place hey Simone this is Ryan this is Ryan Park this is Simone Sunday morning with two politicians I know Ryan we we work together he would know and trust if I called him that I wouldn't do it just for a random pothole and so yeah it was a risk but a risk that I think was definitely worth it come on upper end you're right darling yeah [Music] every week we're having to wash window frames down with bleaches and some pretty harsh chemicals just to get it off and within a couple of days it just goes back so I don't know what to say about it for many years like I was forced to believe that I was this problem and Department of Housing made me feel like I was the cause of all of this you're not you're doing your best you're doing your best in a very very difficult situation so I was here with Simone at 11 o'clock last night and this is nothing compared to what it was like at 11 o'clock last night it takes one for it you can see you've got an infestation here and you even through your efforts you're not going to be able to keep it at Bay you're asking for cockroaches to be eliminated from your property and for the mold to be fixed I don't think you're asking very much at all and I don't want you to think you are asking for much because you're not yeah no illusions that Simone is a one-off case and when we fix that the system will be fixed I'm very sad that I've met you this way but I'm also happy that Jenny bothered to give me a call so that I can try and get this situation fixed for you and your family and so that you feel a little bit of faith yeah um it's still in the system this is a huge huge problem in this country and the only way we solve that is to stop people living in poverty increasing the level of social support they're getting and by making sure that the housing that they're provided with is actually a safe and secure and comfortable place to call home thank you so much today because I know how busy you must be no no I really really appreciate it I think thanks for having me thank you one must tape to five presentable when one goes out in Sydney with Anika and Cave home to babysit Marianne and Caleb are getting ready for a night out get to have some adult time it's a rarity for Mary so I look forward to it for sure call me if you need anything all right bye yeah juggling work a budget and a household means Marianne doesn't often get time out on the town the biggest thing that would help get it off welfare um is improving her Mental Health and and she's now working hard to do that which is admirable and and she seems Resolute that she will be able to do that [Music] Friday night I've had a couple of beers and uh apart from the fact my voice is atrocious I think it's good fun cowboy [Applause] yeah yeah thank you very much to my expensive audience all right my whole reality of being so parent the One release that I find is I think [Music] once I start singing it's like you just enjoy the moment and the moment was being in that room with Caleb and just singing all the songs we wanted to sing Marianne was a solid eight she was she was doing very well I sort of let the team down a bit you're a shitload better at this than I am that was just my warm-up probably yeah it was good fun [Music] on his last morning with Marianne the reality of her future is playing on Caleb's mind she's proven that it is possible to raise a family on welfare she does it but how sustainable is that and she's got older kids but she's got a four-year-old as well which you know feasibly means she's got another 15 years at least of a dependent at home and if she doesn't have the opportunity to get out of where she is now well you know essentially more of the same would you be disappointed if the cycle of welfare didn't end with you that your kids ended up on welfare yeah I would be disappointed and my goal is as their mother is I want it to stop with me Caleb is starting to wonder if living on welfare is more than just food on the table and a roof over your head I'd like to think that Marianne and her family could get more support because who wants to see kids struggle and for someone like Marianne it may not necessarily be cash in hand it might be someone who can come in and assist in the house a few days a week sometimes I think it's more than money and I think one of those things is just knowing that someone else cares or helps I guess which Marianne doesn't get say goodbye to DB and Ron thank you for having me in your home Ron I really appreciate it really honored to hear your story I take my hat off to her for her resilience and her her mental strength see you later there are decisions being made by people far away about what's an appropriate amount of welfare for DB to receive and it's not enough even though they've got a house that's been paid off they're barely making ends meet so is this is this all I have to look forward to these people who worked hard you know beautiful members of the community pay your taxes be good citizens raise your children to be good citizens and it seems to me that all they've got to look forward to is just this spiral of of living on welfare and debt and stress [Music] I see you thank you so much after their time with families and carers on welfare Jenny Caleb and Julie are dismayed by what they've seen it's not enough to live on it's not enough to live on and it's not enough to be able to make sure that you're living in a way that means that you are not just constantly stressing about money if I could change anything the most fundamental thing I would do is make it a more human system it's lovely to meet you Mary you too Caleb and I suppose a one-size-fit tool system doesn't necessarily meet everyone's needs thank you Marianne see ya see ya bye I hadn't thought about that grief of watching the person that you've loved and you've been married to for 37 years suffering like that and he is suffering if the people could cast their focus broader because they didn't have Financial stress at home or because they weren't worried every day about what's around the corner for them what they could achieve I can't even imagine it's a great waste it's a terrible waste [Music] oh [Music] for the past six days Caleb Jenny and Julie have been seeing what it's like to survive on welfare she's proven that it is possible to raise a family on welfare she does it but how sustainable is that she's given over her life as well to care for for the man that she loves you know that's a massive sacrifice we need to get you out of this situation and we need to make sure that Bubba is all right but now it's time to try and get off welfare and into the workforce get off welfare and get into work that is the best form of support any Australian government can provide to the Australian people but first you have to find a job Southwest Sydney Julie Goodwin is up and ready to head out looking for work women over the age of 50 fall into the hardest category for finding employment having a job is so much more than just putting food on the table it's something to get out of bed for something to look forward to even something to complain about and to not have that that's not good it's not good for anybody at all in parts of Campbelltown the unemployment rate is almost twice the national average I haven't gone door knocking for a job since I was 14 years old so I've imagined that the that things have changed a little bit my first job was a retail assistant in a Noni B Store in Northgate Hornsby I just went from door to door asking for a job and I was 14 years and nine months I think that was the the legal date back then that you could go and get a job [Music] so using the same approach Julie decides to hit the pavement the idea of just running up and cold calling a business and asking for work is a little bit nerve-wracking thank you certainly not seeing very many uh position vacant signs on the windows there's obviously no point in me walking into a hairdresser and asking for a job there are nail salons I also am qualified to do that [Music] good afternoon I'm very well thank you I was wondering if you would have any positions vacant if I was looking for work not at the moment yeah very firmly run at the moment okay so it's family business are you family yeah so I've got to bust into the family that's it that's it somehow will you marry me oh are they yeah all right are you want a job yeah yeah you're walking before not in a fruit shop but I no but I'm looking for someone in experience with experiencing this kind of job in the Arabic stuff in Arabic stuff as well okay My Philosophy when I'm employing people has always been that you hire for attitude and you train um for the job but some businesses they're on the ground running they need people to be experienced and the only way to get experience is to get experience hello there I am well thank you how are you thank you I was wondering if you would have any jobs available in your shop no okay okay so that's another family business and he said I'm sorry that's who I'm taking care of if you're on welfare get a job it sounds so straightforward there's nothing straightforward about this [Music] when one does not have a bathroom mirror or a sink for that matter one does one's teeth Brushing in the kitchen sink in Surrey Hills Caleb's been living in a squalid one-bedroom flat rent is forty dollars a day so he needs to find work to cover that and all his other expenses I suppose what I have to now do is put myself in the shoes of someone who is on job Seeker who is coming from very little um and he's trying to get out of the welfare system for many Australians moving off welfare and into work can mean having to work multiple low-paying jobs Caleb's starting out with food delivery writing delivery driving is hardly the most glamorous job in the world it's generally migrants who do this kind of work I I think most um working to middle class Australians would see food delivery or cleaning as below them delivery drivers and riders in Australia work as contractors they have no minimum wage no sick pay and no work cover in a six-week period at the end of 2020 five were killed while working on the streets of Sydney to show Caleb the ropes Muhammad will be his guide through the first few deliveries gentlemen foreign has been working as a delivery rider for the past three years what's it like you have to be a very patient all day on the roads patient with cars or um alerting everything what's the money like depends depends on what time you are working and how many hours you are working with Uber it pays four dollars which is the least delivery pays around six to eight for that per delivery per delivery six to eight dollars if you were to work 20 hours a week you would be able to earn around 150 to 200 I feel a bit trepidatious about doing the delivery to be honest at the moment show me how this stuff works when you go online here see this kind of delivery is reasonably repetitious pick up food from one place and take it to announce sorry doing a job like this is reasonably dangerous I would have thought I've got enough money to eat but I haven't got enough money to cover anything else so uh suck it up princess with a bike and a phone anyone can start working as a food delivery writer with no training and no special license yes this is not my typical line of work so I'm under no Illusions about the fact that I'm probably not going to enjoy it thank you so I've got to go that away that way yeah that you know work is worth money is money [Music] I go hungry if I don't get money oh that's a good start sorry this is my first time first trip done well I suppose I'm a bit exhilarated because I've had to dice it with some the Sydney traffic on a bike and so I'm sort of on the go a bit um but but I'm otherwise okay there's no dry gullies on these roads I'll tell you what traffic ah for a delivery Rider to get close to Australia's minimum wage of just over 20 an hour they'll need to complete multiple jobs each hour [Music] hand it over or just leave it here no worries thank you very much that trip was worth eight dollars and eleven cents to me so I am now sitting at 15.96 worth of earnings for um about an hour's work [Music] look my first impression I feel pretty vulnerable on the road I'm very stressed [Music] thank you very much see ya I am on edge I'm on edge four hours into his shift and Caleb has made six deliveries just hit 30.33 in earnings oh I'm here in one piece huh oh man my heart is going oh well it's hard it's hard work like [Music] it's icing in and out of traffic and I'm cooked how mentally exhausted as well as physically adrenaline keeps you going but pretty exhausting in the illawarra south of Sydney Jenny has been trying to live on the job Seeker allowance for the past six days a few dead cockroaches in the front room now she's going to try to get off welfare and into a paying job but currently she's having trouble just feeding herself I've got one banana that is looking a bit worse for wear but should be right in the fridge but I actually have white bread and I have the leftover chocolate so I've decided I'm going to um eat bread and chocolate and banana for breakfast and then I've got baked beans for dinner if I get no money and pizza shaped for lunch when living on welfare or a low income even simple tasks like washing and drying clothes becomes difficult checked out the laundry last night and it's not it's just a laundry trough there's no washing machine so I rinse some stuff out in the kitchen sink they're still not dry do I want to go to the laundromat and spend that money on washing my clothes alternatively I could just wear some classic clothes be a bit stinky and deal with it nah so it says a wash dry and fold surely that's not right per load is 22 bucks and then it says a half a load which is what I'd have because I don't have lots of clothes with me 15 bucks even the drying is 13 bucks I think which is more than what I've got for each day when I've got money I've got no money so I'm gonna walk down the street and see what it's like to actually go job hunting to see if I can get any casual work to get a bit of cash Jenny's targeting the businesses on the Main Street of Port kembla I can use a coffee machine I haven't done retail but I reckon um yeah if someone showed me how to use the machine I would probably be all right if cash is this tight I'm pretty much happy to do anything jobseeker is meant to help support people finding work but getting by on the amount is a challenge in itself let alone the stress of looking for a job Jenny's about to learn firsthand how hard it is we all know that when you're looking for work it's not easy you need to be able to get to and from interviews you need to be able to have access to a computer or Internet to be able to apply for jobs you need to be able to have decent clothes so that you can actually Rock up to a job interview if you get one now a lot of people that are in these scenarios that are looking for work don't have any of those supports or any of those things and by keeping those people in poverty while they're trying to look for work so that they are unable to attain any of those things or get that support is hugely problematic hello hi how you going hey how are you yeah good thank you my name is Jenny I actually am just wondering if you guys have got any casual work going at the moment uh yeah like a long time ago but I certainly I can use a coffee machine and make coffee and I've done like worked in lots of restaurants and bars and stuff no I don't have food prep experience no so um [Music] chefs all right I appreciate your help thank you thanks a lot see you later bye-bye bye [Music] [Applause] I've certainly um gone into places in the past when I first moved to Sydney and had to just go cold into cafes and shops to ask if they've got any work so I've I've done that before but I haven't done it in a very long time and you forget how uncomfortable you feel and how demoralizing you feel hello good how are you yeah it feels uncomfortable to just get rejected you want to say oh but what if I just did this or what if I just did that but you know it takes a lot of courage to do that your help cheers see ya bye-bye after an unsuccessful morning the last shop open is the florist owned and operated by Renee so we don't have the work and we don't have the money and there's not the government funding to be able to allow us to employ anybody yeah since that's all we can afford to have at this point in time yeah I'll leave you I don't want to interrupt your business you've got important work to do this is Pete this is my Apprentice oh hello Pete how are you lovely to meet you I'm Jenny how you doing Pete worked his whole adult life but when covert hit he lost his job and was forced to retrain 55 year old mile yeah um I have three trades yeah and I couldn't get a cash drop now I I'm shift by trade yeah that is one of the best Industries so yeah this is what I was trying to rely on because I can make coffee but you reckon that's like at all [Music] Australians over 50 will spend twice as long looking for work than younger Australians I've heard people say that before just get off your ass and get a job and 20 years ago that was the case it was perfectly fine you can go to woolies you can go to college you get a job working nightfill not a problem in the world you try and get that now it's it's impossible those jobs they're gone or they're giving to the young kids now because of our age bracket we are so unemployable yeah the government wants to give everyone else yeah a hand up I've got to improve yeah that on valuable yeah yeah that sucks totally totally having reinvented himself as a florist Pete now considers himself one of the lucky ones I feel amazing I feel proud but where where we work there's a um that means hostile upstairs and I see these blades off oh you don't want to be lonely and old and have addictions and everything like that I think how did I get lucky I feel humble [Music] that's tough because [Music] the whole model is set up that it's like you work and you get a job and then you earn your money and then you're not in poverty anymore well that is not how it's working [Music] that's broken one quarter of Australians under the age of 30 need to work multiple jobs just to survive After High School Caleb moved straight into a Cadet ship and then a job as a journalist so he's never had to work multiple jobs growing up was was pretty normal parents went to work dad was a gardener mum worked in retail we we never struggled and that was something I'm very grateful for obviously on his second day of working for low pay reality is hitting home well in having done the the deliveroo stuff last night it's pretty lowly paid they're not meeting minimum wage basically 24 26.30 after paying my rent I think my quality of life is better working you know once I paid for my rent I had in my hand yesterday more than double what I had the day before Caleb heads back out for the dinner shift on the bike he's found a second job as a cleaner I don't think it's unfair to expect people to to make their own way or to to at least put in some effort you know not not everyone is going to succeed it's that is a fact of life but the effort is the main thing I think his cleaning partner for the day and fellow contractor is Jorge if you want me to sit in the front of the back um 38 year old Jorge is trying to get off jobseeker after losing his job at the height of the pandemic what did you um do for work previously I was a card detailer for Toyota yep and so I got redundant about five of this or so got redundant from there it was a shock yeah this is uh my mum's car but after I got redundant and all that stuff um I had to sell it pay rent Jorge and Caleb only have two hours to clean a four bedroom house from top to bottom there's dust all up there take all that off yeah well this bench stuff needs to be done toilet I need to get right in the back there rubbish needs to be emptied here skirting boards along the stairs mirrors nice and clean it's about 10-15 minutes maximum on each room two hours isn't much for completing the job they'll receive 42 each okay let's get stuck into it glove up let's go time is money to be competitive and cost effective Caleb and Jorge need to work at Breakneck speeds you finished there yet no you've got to achieve a lot in in two hours little spots and it's a lot of pressure because you're only getting paid for that two hours there's no overtime well done yeah all right guess you're coming here so all these need to come off wash them up yep or right in the corner see in there so not only going to be quick but you've got to be it's going to be done done right as well if you miss a couple of Parts you won't get the job back every job is important I suppose the sustainability of this kind of work really depends on your fortitude so when you need to finish up in here we're spend too much time struggle with it and a lot of people would probably weirdly Thrive off but I'll get you to start in this toilet yep so get the brush get on the insides but it would obviously grind you down if you were working for 21 an hour day in Day Out [Music] in Port kembla Jenny has spent the morning door knocking businesses looking for work a piece of white bread and a couple of pieces of chocolate for breakfast I've got some leftover sausages from last night so maybe I could eat that but yeah it's not looking pretty good after scouring the local area Jenny's managed to get a trial shift at a caravan Park as a kitchen hand with Chef John hello how you going I'm Jenny oh sorry I'm Nick no problems Nick I won't distract you you're uh you're in the middle of a thing those people out there look hungry the average wage for a kitchen hand is 19.54 cents an hour and this is the kitchen this is the kitchen John only works two shifts a week earning him 375 which is not much more than he'd receive on jobseeker well prep if I've got time during the day yeah yeah but if I don't have time I can't yeah if I do what I can do yeah not being able to secure enough work hours means many Australians feel like they're better off on welfare you're responsible for doing all the ordering or someone else is doing that uh somebody else does the ordering I just let them know that what we needed are you worried about my hair or you're right okay that's it thank you thank you so two cups of self-raising flour from this bucket into this bowl yep through the sieve yeah about a quarter of one of sugar and that'll make the dry mix for the pancakes that's good yeah I didn't think I was that hungry and I didn't think I was that craving of some quality food but now I'm standing in a kitchen I am feeling very hungry yep no we just give a good whisk it you know there might be stresses about my current job but they're certainly certainly stresses about having to serve customers two big breakfasts you've got a smash davo as well are you on that no I'm on that there's no more hashbrowns that is a good bacon and egg roll my biggest worry is getting through life week to week and knowing that I've done my best but I've got to you know always come up with that extra money after falling on Hard Times the park was more than just a workplace for John and his daughter Isabelle they've been living here for eight months yeah in a caravan we're paying 200 a week yeah which is very good yeah yeah she was going to school every day from here she was but you have to get up and you have to keep going yeah you can't let that get you young it's only temporary and at the end of the day it might have been eight months yeah but eight months in a caravan Park to eight months in the streets yeah no comparison John's combined work and welfare payments total 46 dollars a day after rent that's for him and his daughter to live on [Music] the family tax benefit amb that I get yeah 300 a fortnight yeah to raise a kid yeah with food clothing all that kind of stuff yeah decision [Music] being a single parent on a limited income means simple things like school uniforms stretch the budget so Isabelle's uniform was 129 just for the one she had on today yeah that's one uniform she needs at least three in total totally and yeah it's just I don't have the money she needs a laptop can't afford that so the school does does Supply and let him use theirs but when she gets homework for home can't do it and so what does that mean in terms of her studies she's at a setback already before she's even started yep it makes me angry and annoyed but what can I do to be honest like I've just got to look at it as well something that I've got to work towards yeah so if I can pick up an extra hour at work or something yeah if I'm in this situation then today I've got to get myself out of the situation yeah the best I can I get up every anything can everyone go King for Isabel to give Isabel what she needs yeah yeah and and it's hard hard but we can only do what we can do in life yeah Australian children living in poverty are three times more likely to suffer adult poverty I obviously care about how John's going but I really I really worry about Isabel she is basically suffering discrimination because of the income status of her family she wanted she wanted to be a vet amazing but as I said to her to be a vet you've got to go to university totally I don't want to be a vet anymore I think she'd be better off with um child care it would be easier for her in the long run he's contributing he wants to be working but he's still not earning enough to be able to get by he's saying that if there's something in the order of 50 bucks extra that'd make the difference for him to be able to save some money there are over 2 million small businesses operating in Australia but with one in three failing in their first year being a business owner can leave you living on the breadline Julie owns and runs a cooking school so understands the stress of running a small business I know but Rush that you get when you've created a space that's beautiful and what people love to come I know how uplifting it is into day two on the job hunt she's decided to try and use her cooking skills and Target cafes hello hi I'm Julie hoping to find a position vacant Julie comes across Cafe owner Sonia so this is your Cafe yeah yeah we don't own the building but everything else yeah in 2019 Sonia won Campbelltown business person of the year I took over first of July 2016. from the original owner she did a great job setting it up but yeah it's beautiful we yeah we took it to a whole whole other level in 2020 the covert pandemic hit and forced cafes and restaurants to close and only provide takeaway meals I closed down two days before the government said that there was that we were only allowed to do take away um don't don't apologize mate um my break-even point was 750 a day which is massive yeah and I locked the doors like we closed earlier closes about 11 o'clock on the Wednesday because I just couldn't be in here with no people around everybody had already started working from home yep just just gone overnight yep the the walls were all done like this was all decorated for me and that's the loss of income isn't the only issue for Sonia absolutely she also has an outstanding 100 000 business loan so you can imagine the tables just oh fed up through here with them and then out the front we had the full use of the courtyard yes oh the idea of opening again is too much for Sonia so she now works four jobs which barely covers her business loan rent and living costs I work during the day for a pheasants Nest produce I thought I'd deliver fruit and veggies with them I work night times at Clubman Engel I'm a chef out there on the Saturday night okay I work at the beer shed whenever they've got big events on is this seven day a week style stuff we're talking I work eight eight days a week eight days yeah 30 hours a day yeah and how does that see you once you've you know made your debt payments I'm not saving I'm never gonna be out of debt for you know the least the loan on this place the business has got 25 years to go on it so ever any thought about filing for bankruptcy every day yeah every day that I wish I could just walk away but the loan's secure against my dad's house as well so it doesn't right it doesn't help I can't walk away I can I can go bankrupt but it'll only be for the rent please Sonia put her heart and soul and into this Cafe and it didn't pay off this literally if I couldn't have drawn some money off my mortgage to take advantage of that job keeper scheme this would be my story I still have a fit out loan that I would have to somehow service if I had shut my doors I believe you when you say that this isn't it and that you're going to have another go at this somewhere down the track eventually we'll be here I can feel the the dream that she had I can feel the excitement that she had setting this place up her heartbreak is so palpable [Music] in Sydney Caleb is working multiple jobs to try to earn enough money to live certain what he'll make later on with deliveroo so he's counting on the 42 dollars from his cleaning shift you asked me before is this worth it not much of a choice is a it's worth it in so far as it means you've got money but it's not like it's a Stellar option is it Jorge has three children after losing his job during covert he started working as a cleaner this is the only job I could find so no I've got no choice how does that feel trying to be the man of the house you're not much of a man anymore doesn't make you feel like a man it's not just about you know feeling like a man taking your wallet out to buy something for the kids dad I want ice cream sorry makes you feel bad Jorge and Caleb won't get paid any overtime so they'll need to finish the job in two hours or they'll be working for free how you feeling I'm pretty tired yeah oh I'm I'm stressed I think more than stressed yeah feeling a bit hot yeah sweaty yeah well well not even halfway there he does this on a daily basis so you know if I were doing this all the time I would be pretty stressed having to work multiple jobs just to get by might not be as simple as Caleb first thought certainly not worth the money at the moment and I don't think I could sustainably do it on a regular basis I feel close to crying but I'm trying with this hey Ganda not as fast as I would like man I don't know how you do this [Music] Caleb and Jorge managed to finish the job in just over two hours it's not easy isn't it do you think people think cleaning is just cleaning but it's hard work we're sweating our bums off you how long do you reckon you can keep doing this for well I'm not on the streets yet so if I can just manage to pay the bills my rent you know chip in for the shopping and petrol on the card so I can get to another job yeah you know anything less than this if I didn't have these job cleaning houses I couldn't imagine I wouldn't know I couldn't tell you you'd be in trouble I'd be in big trouble I would feel um I suppose halfway useless if uh cleaning was the only option I had for work really so that's yours oh he kind of deserved it thank you it's not much but that it is what it is yeah yeah experiencing for himself what Jorge has to do to get by Caleb has plenty to think about happiness and acceptance are two different things I can accept that Jorge is in the position he is in it doesn't mean I'm happy about that would I like to change that of course I'd like to change that how do you feasibly change it you know it's it's at some point you've got to think about practicalities peripheral level you can understand that and hence why some people would prefer to take the welfare option but what are you achieving by sitting around on welfare over three days on the job hunt Julie's only managed to score two low-paying shifts one letterboxing pamphlets and another as hired help delivering Furniture it's just hard this this is a long day she decides to call it a day and head back to her emergency accommodation today's been sad there's definitely a lack of opportunities what it's taking away from people is the opportunity to to do more to be more to have a quality of life that many of us enjoy it's her last night and Julie makes do with what food she has left over this is dinner number three out of the barbecued chicken with some rice and I'm running very low on Grease the idea of one Barbie took lasting for three nights is foreign cars tolls clothing all the things that you need in a household there is absolutely no way no way on Earth that that money covers it the struggle for the people she's Met has made a lasting impact I thought I had plenty of understanding but I guess I just didn't I did I didn't and I'm grateful to every person who let me into their lives tell me their stories were really open I think there's motivation to get off job Seeker even if you've got to work seven days a week to do it I know that when I was cleaning houses waitressing taking in ironing singing at weddings clowning at kids parties I was working seven days a week and that was not my life goal I just had to keep going until I reached a point and my family reached a point where I could back off that a little bit you know yeah nobody's sitting around going woohoo job Seeker I have made it it's not happening [Music] to Gambler Jenny has been saying firsthand the challenges of trying to live on low wages with few hours Jenny is down to the last of the food she managed to put aside earlier in the week if I was in this situation and I had no Prospect of getting out of it I'd be I'd be really stressing at this point the steel Works in Port kembla once employed 22 000 workers that Workforce is now just four and a half thousand locals out of work and having to rely on charity to get by you can apparently go here and get a meal so I thought that that would be a good thing to check out hey I'm Jenny how you going hey Emmanuel you hi Jenny hey George really good to meet you how you doing good good um I heard you guys give people food on a Friday night is that right every Friday um usually open this facility for people to come and see it yeah have some social interaction great free dinner we have to cater and we have to guess how many people yeah so but usually we have enough food we've never run out of food Jenny's decided to volunteer for a shift serving other patrons no something like this before Starbucks whenever people come here they said something for tomorrow yeah you know it's you know so yeah I don't think what people get from the government is really enough I I come from a refugee background yeah I came here as a refugee and I was on Saturday for a long time and uh yeah you get 550 dollars for fortnite so you have to pay your rent your bills and everything and yeah just so I feel like when am I gonna get out of this foreign [Music] people live the current rate of unemployment benefit is is too low to have any sort of life um my I had one boy that's still at high school and it's fairly costly to keep him at high school and and the rents are so expensive like my rental takes nearly all of my money um now bread rolls probably say oh go and get a job but there's the jobs just aren't down down here this way uh in the illawarra so you've really got no choice but to you know uh have have uh unemployment benefit is there any source of income yeah I'll have some nectarines yeah there's a couple of nectarines there put it at a work and think that there's jobs like it might be like the 70s or 80s where there's a lot of jobs but that's not the case now there's you know there's just not enough jobs having people in the community coming here to help out and volunteer and and having other organization getting on board by giving us what we need to be able to support the people is is awful feeling we appreciate you coming thank you and seeing what we do and we know that you've survived all day on a banana it's our pleasure to give you a free meal amazing thank you I appreciate these kind of you know Community initiatives it's actually the only option for people to eat but also to interact now that I've had these experiences and met these people I do get what's needed and it's not some theoretical radical Lefty concept it's Basics and food as Jenny settles in for her final night the reality of trying to get off welfare and into the workforce is all too apparent it's been a big week it's been a really tough week um I wouldn't want to have to live on Centrelink payments and I cannot wait to see my family and not sleep in a crusty crusty stuffy unit in a sleeping bag Jenny Julie and Caleb's exploration into Australia's welfare system is nearing the end the gig economy has provided some much needed income for Caleb as he sees how challenging it can be to get off welfare and into a job where he earns enough to live this morning I did my cleaning shift for which earned 42 dollars so that's rent covered for the day plus two bucks so I've treated myself to half a chuck for five bucks which I have demolished probably one of the best feeds I've had all week to be honest but the money he's earned is barely enough to survive so he's hitting the streets one more time the most uncomfortable thing about this position is that you don't really know what's on the horizon something might happen I don't know and if you don't have money there to pay for it well then what do you do but what what sort of position are you in we've got about um 45 minutes or so until am I next shift which is food delivery like I did yesterday my aim for tonight would be to make enough money to get myself a counter meal and a pipe that'd be that'd be really nice Caleb's logged on for the afternoon shift back in Newtown in peak hour traffic not far at all so um we're on our way I didn't feel so safe yesterday and when you're dicing in and out of traffic trying to get somewhere as quickly as you can to make your delivery like it um can be pretty daunting it constantly is there a car there is there a car there is there a car there is that kind of guy open his car door on me like it's a constant barrage of things you're thinking about as well as the destination you're going to and getting the food there so Stephanie good yourself it's the idea thank you you too we're off the Bangkok bites now for three days Caleb's worked to earn just enough money to live he's made more money than he'd receive on jobseeker but he's realized it's not a great long-term option excellent thank you very much see ya this kind of job would probably help you get off welfare but it's not the kind of job that is going to keep you off wealthy there you go you too see ya thank you enjoy so yeah you've got some hungry mouths to feed by the looks of it thank you very much [Music] [Applause] so we're now up to 48 bucks which I must say I'm pretty pleased with seven o'clock I've been out there for probably an hour and 45 minutes and I've made nearly 50 bucks so I am feeling pretty good about myself at the minute side I think I might call it a day to end his nine-day experience on the breadline Caleb's treating himself to a meal and a drink at the local pub I'll grab the um fish and chips thanks it's making Caleb reflect on what he's learned it's not an answer to your joblessness it's better than being on welfare but it I'd be wanting to get out of it pretty quickly a little luxury every now and again just sort of [Music] gives you a bit of a lift um a sense that there is still hope for nine days Caleb's belief that the best form of welfare is a job has been challenged in very simple terms the solution to welfare is to get a job but the extension of that question is how easy is it to get a job and for some people it's very easy to get a job because they have a skill set that will allow them to find a job easily and for other people they're competing in a crowded Market and it's not so easy for those people to get a job and so I suppose to say to them we'll just get a job's unfair a lot of people I'm sure are trying very hard to get a job and just out turning one up and so I can understand why they would would turn to something like this because it's income there's some income it's it's better than having nothing but it's but it's you know it's not as simple as just get a job [Music] I enjoy a good pub food but I never thought I'd enjoy a pub food this much oh it's been a bit of a culture shock I think [Music] the Vive on the bread line it's a question that's LED Jenny Leong Julie Goodwin and Caleb Bond on a journey I would imagine for for lots of people seeing this will be a shock because they assume that if you get government support that's going to support you but when you're trying to survive on the breadline you feel like you're excluded you feel like you're separate from everyone and you don't belong and I've just done 300 shop yesterday yeah and we broke this experience has certainly broadened my mind that range between Have and Have Not is outrageous they feel like they've failed you know and it's like you haven't failed you haven't got a job yeah and it's out of their control feels like the more time we spend in the house the secret we get I don't know how many politicians have met how many people living in public housing but the state is a bad landlord the system is broken it doesn't work properly you're not much of a man anymore does it make you feel like a man I would like to think that we would have a nation where people who wanted to have a go at climbing up that ladder could give it a bloody good shot good morning run I've got a bit of egg for you first on the bottom lip so giving people a little bit more money doesn't mean they're going to be laughing harder at The Establishment that's not what it means what it means is that you're giving them an opportunity to get out from under that Financial stress to maybe have an outfit that they can wear to job interviews to maybe look at doing that tertiary qualification if there was one thing I could do to improve the lot of the people I have met through this journey it would be to give them somewhere decent to live it's not a massive ask it's really not a massive ask foreign

Channel: ENDEVR

Views: 169,227

Keywords: Free documentary, documentaries, full documentary, hd documentary, documentary - topic, documentary (tv genre), Business Documentary, could you survive on the breadline, working class documentary, poverty documentary, poverty australia, poverty australia documentary, australia poverty documentary

Id: mbnzbXX6hEE

Length: 154min 3sec (9243 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 19 2023