Young people paying the penalty
Penalty rates have been cut, and a loooot of young people are feeling it. Check out how/why the decision was made, and how social media is clapping back.
PENALTY RATES HAVE BEEN CUT - CHECK OUT HOW/WHY THE DECISION WAS MADE AND WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ONLINE.
WHAT HAPPENED:
The above video from SBS explains:
- What penalty rates are.
- The cuts that have been made.
- And some of the politics behind the decision.
The decision to cut penalty rates is going to heavily impact people who work in retail, hospitality and fast food.
This is a big deal for young people because young people rely on these industries for employment.
The Conversation tells us:
“This will hit young people the hardest as research tells us that while a third of Australians rely on regular Sunday shifts as part of their wage, nearly 40% of young people rely on penalty rates to survive.
Ultimately, young people are at the coal face of any change to minimum entitlements, and face the greatest risk of losing out at the hands of this reform.”
So let's check in on what the ever-enlightening voice of social media had to say about this issue:
1. PEOPLE TOOK TO TWITTER TO TALK ABOUT WHAT PENALTY RATES MEAN TO THEM:
2. SOME WONDERED IF THE PEOPLE MAKING THE DECISION COULD UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF PENALTY RATES:
3. A FEW PEOPLE FOUND THE DECISION BAFFLING:
Source: Australian Unions Twitter
4. IT WAS ALSO POINTED OUT THAT THE DECISION WILL ESPECIALLY IMPACT YOUNG WOMEN:
5. AND A FEW YOUNG PEOPLE GOT INTO THE NITTY GRITTY ECONOMICS OF WHAT IS GOING ON:
Source: Facebook
Source: Facebook
Robo-debt
The robo-debt scandal was about young people being asked to pay back debts they didn’t owe. Find out how the internet responded
One of the hottest politics stories in 2017 (in Australia at least...) was the chaos surrounding the Centrelink debt letter fiasco.
Basically what happened was:
The government used a computer to determine if people had a Centrelink debt.
The computer got the equation horribly wrong.
Young and vulnerable people all over the country received letters demanding they pay back debts that were non-existent.
They made contesting the debt the most painstaking, arduous and monotonous task imaginable.
There have been reports of extreme confusion, distress, depression and even suicidal thoughts from people who have received letters.
The Minster, though, said everything was running smoothly and has refused to shut down the computer (which is sending out 20,000 debt letters a month).
People were not very happy. At all.
This issue affected young people at a really serious level:
Over a quarter of people who are on government income support are young people, which makes sense because young people have a harder time cracking the job market and when they do, are subject to things like casual incomes and youth wage which can limit how much they earn.
The language and nature of the letter confused a lot of young people. There was a story in The Guardian that talked about how young people might not understand the letter and pay the debt without contesting its authenticity.
Young people are less likely to have the savings necessary to pay back a large debt within 21 days.
Thankfully young people (and the internet in general) have a beautiful way of articulating their frustrations, opinions and ideas in the most engaging and simple way possible: memes.
So walk with us as we unpack and uncover some of the best memes (and videos) that were spread across the internet in the wake of the attempt the debt-onate young people.
If crude satire is your thing, this video explains breaks down the Centrelink ridiculousness in a simple but punchy way (note: this video uses swear words).
First Dog On The Moon seemed to think that this crackdown was so malicious that the painful ramifications may have been deliberate (click here for the full comic strip):
Source: The Guardian
Australian Political Memes hyperbolated just how mean-hearted it was to ask the poorest people to fix the Government’s debt crisis:
Costa A tried to make sense of why the Government might target vulnerable people:
Source: Costa A Comics
Just as there are many stages of grief, there are many stages of disbelief, particularly in the swift paced online world.
When Sussan Ley (a politician) was found to used her parliamentary entitlements to claim a private, chartered plane to the Gold Coast, where she conducted private business, people smelt hypocrisy.
The question on the minds of people across the internet was simply; how can the government tell us to pull up our socks when they spend taxpayer money so lavishly on themselves?
Some blamed the morals (and moreso, the culture) of Parliament:
Some parliamentarians came to the defence of Ley, saying she had not broken any rules.
.. To which the internet responded:
Australian Political Memes gave a great conclusion to this whole hypocritical entitlement fiasco:
Our take aways in all of this are simply:
This attack on young people, and vulnerable people across Australia, was pretty uncalled for.
The public should be concerned over the way governments treat and target young people.
Sick of young people being blamed for being poor? Use this.
We’ve got the facts and stats to bust that myth.
How often do you hear throw-away comments like:
- Young People should just get jobs
- Young people are careless with their money
- Young People are just lazy bludgers.
Well, not only are these sorts of comments destructive and divisive, they're also just plain wrong.
In light of Anti-Poverty week, YACSA dug up some research on systemic and social factors that make it more difficult for young people to escape poverty than ever before.
Here's what we've got. Feel free to use it.
(For a downloadable PDF version of this graphic, with each fact hyperlinked to its source, click this link)