Rental crisis hitting essential workers hardest: report (msn.com)Meat packers and hospitality staff in capital cities are spending more than 80 per cent of their earnings just on rent. In NSW and Victoria there were no affordable regions for essential workers earning award wages.
Anglicare spokesperson Maiy Azize said workers in essential industries were the backbone of Australian communities, yet more and more were being pushed into serious rental stress.
"Virtually no region in Australia is affordable for our aged care workers, early childhood carers, cleaners, nurses and many other essential workers we rely on," she said.
"Our tax system is rigged against renters, driving up the cost of rent for millions of Australians and on top of that (there is) a huge shortfall of social homes for people who can't afford rent."
Anglicare is calling on the federal government to start building 25,000 social homes every year to help with the shortfall, funded by winding back tax concessions for investors and landlords.
Around the western world ( not just Australia ) tax concessions on property have slowly but surely led to this situation. Small advantage year after year snowballs into the situation where 80% or more of essential workers earnings goes into rent.
SLAVERY in other words.
The long term consequences of such policies ignored by the politicians as they themselves were benefiting at others expense and or they were too scared to do what had to be done to fix the issue as votes from the advantaged demographic would be lost.
As the demographics change and the young gain in % of the population this will probably change. Gotta love mob rule.
I !
