Health, Well Being and Working Poverty

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Health, Well Being and Working Poverty

• Helen Masterman-Smith and Jude Elton
• Centre for Work and Life
• University of South Australia
• Hawke Research Institute for Sustainable Societies

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www.lowpayproject.com.au

• Low Paid Services Employment in Australia
  Dimensions, Causes, Effects and Responses
• Funding Australian Research Council, Liquor
  Hospitality Miscellaneous Workers Union,
  Brotherhood of St Laurence, SA Unions, Unions
  NSW, Victorian Trades and Labour Council
• Research team Barbara Pocock (Uni of SA), John
  Buchanan (Sydney Uni), Ian Watson (Sydney Uni),
  Iain Campbell (RMIT Uni), Susan Oakley (Adelaide
  Uni)

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Changing workplace environments

• Work as a fundamental social determinant of
  health availability and quality
• Implications of WorkChoices for low paid?
• AIRC President Giudice people with low skills,
  low bargaining power are headed for the five
  minimum conditions..which will have an effect on
  their incomes..This will be accompanied by a
  slowdown in the rate of growth of minimum wages -
  thats what the Fair Pay Commission is for
• I can assure you it s going to affect our
  society

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The study

• Low paid workers 14/hr - 530/wk - 26800/year
• National research
• SA childcare workers
• Vic - cleaners
• NSW - luxury accommodation workers
• Focus workers, households, communities
• Recruitment LHMU, BSL, advertising
• Larger project
• 100-200 participants (interviews/focus groups)
• HILDA analysis

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Dimensions of low pay

• Low paid work
• 14 (mid 90s) to 20 (2003)
• 29 (2.6m) of all workers on lt 500pw
• Concentrated in service sectors
• Strong connection with casual/part-time
  employment
• Low paid workers
• Mostly female, 25-65 yrs
• Over-represented young people,
• women, CALD

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Health on a low wage

• Not all low paid in poverty
• Working poor time and income poverty
• Fewer benefits (health, travel), more costs
  (travel, training, equipment)
• Deep sense of struggle and deprivation
• I only have incoming calls... my daughters rent
  pays the groceries. No luxuries.. I will live in
  a rented home for the rest of my life (Fay, 43,
  cleaner, Melbourne)
• Tough on household relationships and social
  networks
• Ive been really stressed out July was my
  shocking one. Kids couldnt even look at me
  cause I had so many bills I had rego I had
  everything I have to find a full time job. I
  cant cope any more. Well because the rents
  going up all the time too (Cathy, 40s, lone
  parent of 2 children, cleaner, Adelaide)
• Health treatment and prevention are a luxury

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Individuals

• Physical well being
• Workplace hazards chemicals, sick children
• Endless work
• Long hours/overwork/on-call
• No retirement
• Im going to work til I can work. I want to
  keep working and pay off my debts (John, 65,
  cleaner, Melbourne).
• No rest or recreation
• Emotional/mental well being
• Depression, anxiety
• Pressure for money..I have no money, upset, start
  trouble.. I feel squashed, cant relax (Paul, 47,
  cleaner, Melbourne)
• Humiliation, shame, a different world
• these people that have got a bit of money to
  flash and I cant even afford to buy myself a
  bloody meal I got told by Centrelink the other
  day that Im living beyond my means and I
  laughed I dont need her to tell me that...you
  feel like an absolute dickhead and a failure
  (Ebony, 29, mother of 3, childcare worker,
  Adelaide)

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Households/Families

• Low paid workers often do long hours
  families/households miss out on both time and s
• Relationship pressures
• they always expect grandma to be able to feed
  them and have cakes and lollies and take them to
  places and that's where I get really upset that I
  can't (Diana, 50s, cleaner, Adelaide)
• Care commitments (Susans mum)
• Its not a very flexible job Ive got an
  elderly mother who needs to go to the doctors
  nearly every other Wednesday but I cant do that
  anymore (Susan, 50s, private nanny, Adelaide)
• Children go without
• Health care, dental, medicine
• School excursions, educational participation
• Sports participation
• Home heating
• Meals, good meals
• Clothing
• Transport for events
• Holidays
• Basic leisure
• Parental time
• Ebony buys home brand or the bargain of the
  weekits not the leanest chicken or the leanest
  meat to actually promote good health. And also
  being running around heaps often I have to get
  the kids lunch order so sometimes it becomes a
  bit of an unorganised household which also
  becomes a bit more expensive which also creates
  not eating healthy and not taking time out for
  yourself (Ebony, 20s, mother of 3, child care
  worker)

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Community

• Many examples of withdrawal from social
  relationships, organisations, activities
• Social world shrinks
• ..I dont go out and visit because its another 20
  minute drive and I cant afford that (Molly,
  childcare worker, Adelaide)
• Catching up with friends, its rare now (Jenni,
  20s, childcare worker, Adelaide)
• Community/social support networks stretched
• Mutual aid/support networks struggling with
  diminishing resources
• A lady was moving out over the road or they got
  thrown out or something and I had her and her
  kids come over and she asked me could she stay
  here for awhile and she was here two or three
  weeks, I've had that quite a few times (Diana,
  50s, single grandmother supporting grandchild,
  cleaner, Adelaide)
• Capacity building undermined
• I'm not doing it now because of this job but I
  was involved voluntarily in taking kids to
  court and sitting with them while they've got
  access to a parent... (Diana, 50s, single
  grandmother supporting grandchild, cleaner,
  Adelaide)
• Sick workers public safety, burden on health
  care system
• Im probably likely to actually come into work
  feeling under the weather because you know youve
  got no sick leave or no TOIL time of in lieu or
  anything like that (Donna, 30s, childcare worker,
  Adelaide)

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Prevention

• Financial constraints
• Delaying treatment
• I dont go to the dentist.. Im scared to go in
  case he finds something I cant afford (Paula,
  55, mother of 2, two cleaning jobs, Melbourne)
• Cutting back on healthy/sufficient food and
  exercise
• After work I havent recharged from the day yet
  and I dont actually have the energy to do
  exercise and even eat right sometimes because
  youre not really earning that much so youre
  buying cheaper food I suppose and budgeting more
  (Kylie, 30s, childcare worker, Sydney)
• Sports participation
• Time constraints - little control over work or
  non-work time
• Because its a poor pay rate, you feel you need
  to work as much as you possibly can so you never
  want to make appointments, even on your day off,
  for medical, breast screening cervical cancer
  screening pap smears, And also if work rings
  up and wants you to work and you refuse youll
  find youre penalised when the next roster comes
  out youve got less hours (Vicky, 50s,
  childcare worker, Adelaide)

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Help Seeking

• Community services
• Id probably be too proud (Charmaine, 40s,
  cleaner, Adelaide)
• I found it hard to actually ring them up and to
  get to that point (Millie, 30s, cleaner,
  Adelaide)
• Welfare as a last resort
• We never claim dole, anything NEVER any one
  day claim unemployment (Mercedes, cleaner,
  immirgant, Melbourne)
• I dont want to be known as one of those dole
  bludgers (Fay, 40s, cleaner, Melbourne)

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In sum

• Low pay time and money poverty
• Good health and healthy household/community
  relationships are essential to surviving on a low
  wage
• Yet, low wages erode health, social connection
  and social fabric
• Work that is health promoting is
• fairly paid living wage
• family friendly conditions
• ensures workplace rights/citizenship
• meets ILO minimum standards

• www.lowpayproject.com.au
• www.unisa.edu.au/hawkeinstitute/cwl/