THE average single worker is now paying more than $5000 a year in tax - or nearly $100 a week - to fund the nation's growing welfare budget.
And a bigger tax slice of the weekly paypacket is going towards paying the interest bill on the nation's record $143 billion net debt.
An analysis of the federal budget by the Tax Institute reveals that about 35c in every dollar collected by the taxman from the average worker pays for the welfare of others, up from 33.3c.
Tuesday's budget papers show the welfare and social security budget will leap by $4.8 billion to $131.6 billion.
