That includes Uber drivers as they are registered and pay tax, it includes anybody that does payed work including those that work for online companies. Just because they work in the digital stream does not mean they and their jobs dont exist.
As far as Uber drivers earning $25 per hour, well so do taxi drivers but not all the time and yes I have looked into it.
As with taxis they are not employed every hour and would be lucky to make $300 - $400 per week after fuel, maintenance, insurance and other costs associated with running a vehicle.
Under employment is not a complicated idea. If you dont earn at least the average weekly earnings then you are under employed.
Whether that suits you to be underemployed is a question for the individual.
The facts are governments in Australia have changed the way they calculate the CPI and inflation to give them the outcome they want.
If you are employed for one hour a week you are not on the unemployed list or show up negatively on the participation rate.
This Liberal government intentionally forced down wages, rates and conditions, they forced down in real terms pensions.
Underemployment is rife in Australia as is those who dont appear on the participation or employment figures.
As for your comparison to the seventies well I was working in the seventies so I have a very good understanding of it all.
You would be hard pressed to compare the cost of things today with the seventies. A brand new car in the mid seventies cost about $3500 and that was a V8 family sedan holden with some extras. Today a similar vehicle is about $40,000, that is a whole lot of inflation.
The average cost of buying a house in the Seventies was:
Sydney – $36,800
Canberra – $35,100
Melbourne – $32,900
Adelaide – $29,800
Hobart – $31,575
Perth – $33,000
Brisbane – $26,275
Compare that with the current house prices where Sydney is over $1,000,000 today.
Household debt in Australia now is the highest on record.
The whole thing is not a complicated question at all.
