This graph compares the poverty line for a single adult living alone with maximum rates of JobSeeker Payment together with Rent Assistance and the Coronavirus Supplement, JobKeeper Payment, and the COVID-19 Disaster Payment, which was introduced in the second wave of the pandemic. All values are expressed as a proportion of the median weekly fulltime wage.
The income supports available to a single adult without children who was unemployed were set above the poverty line in the recession, but drifted below it as the Coronavirus Supplement was reduced:
* In June 2020 (when the Supplement was $275pw) their income was around 30% above the poverty line.
* In September 2020 (after it was reduced to $125pw) they were close to the poverty line.
* In March 2021 (after it was reduced to $75pw), they were around 15% below it.
* In June 2021, (after the $25pw increase in Jobseeker Payment in April 2021 failed to offset the removal of the Supplement) they were once again around 30% below the poverty line.
Note that this comparison of payments and poverty lines for a single adult does not take account of the diversity of families of different sizes and housing costs, which also determine whether a household falls below the poverty line.