The budget has families stuck in a kerfuffle, with the full range of setbacks slowly becoming clear.
If you have children it seems you will be hit from all sides. With family day care costs rising and government benefits falling, parents are expected to feel the weight of the budget as much as anyone. Cutbacks to the health and education sectors will further the struggle for any parent.
The following cuts will hit families hardest:
- $80 billion will be ripped out of schools and hospital funding
- The Gonski school funding plan will be dumped in 2017-18
- No more school kids bonus
- A “patient contribution” fee will see GP visits costing $7 per visit
- Additional $5 fee on top of scripts
- Family day care costs expected to rise
If you send your child to family day care, be prepared to pay around $2,000 a year more in fees. Eligibility for the Community Support Program will be tightened, with small family day cares expected to increase their fees. This will bounce back on parents, as the effect of rising costs will end with consumers. An estimated rise of about $35 a week is expected for a child in full-time family day care. About 80,000 families send their children to family day care.
Hidden expenses are making themselves known as the budget is examined in closer detail. If you’re a low income family with a reliance on government benefits, a 10 per cent loss of income is probable. An unemployed single parent with a child between the ages of six and 12 will be hit particularly hard, losing $60 per week — a staggering 12 per cent of their disposable income.
It seems the government has left families to work this out for themselves, as the “detailed family outcomes table” introduced by Peter Costello in past budgets was not included in this year’s outline. The table is regularly used to summarise the affects the budget will have on different types of families across various demographics. When asked why this information was not included this year, a spokesperson for Joe Hockey told the Sydney Morning Herald that the government had been transparent about the changes in the documents that accompanied the budget papers.
Are you a parent? What are your thoughts on this year’s budget? Let us know below.
This budget is not people oriented at all and will not make things easier for anyone on pension-only income, disabled persons, the elderly, young people trying to get a proper job, single parents, families with children at daycare or school or university students who work part-time to support themselves or live away from home – just about anyone who is on a lower income level. The long-term ‘improvement’ (?) in national finances will come at a heavy cost for those least able to afford it. What happened to a fair go for all Australians?
I don’t have children & am a 71 year old. I live on a modest income that is better than a pension but certainly not even in the average bracket. There are many parts of this budget that will effect families, pensioners etc.One thing that really upsets me is the tactic of saying our deficit is threatening. To Quote a friend “if our deficit is threatening and disarstrous, the res of the world is doomed. It may have been better to keep our current deficit & take precautions not to increase it. This may have prevented the horrific budget that will adversly affect most ordinary Australians.
The problem is Robin, that our deficit is continually growing due to the fact that most of Labor’s new policies were to be introduced in the next few years. None of these had been funded which is what has caused the problem. All the money for these ”initiatives” was to come from borrowed money which will continually increase our deficit with an interest bill around $1 billion per month.
This will affect me a lot. I am on Pension and do have to attend Dr a lot and lots of medication, already I know I will have to cut down on what I take that will affect my health more, I just won’t have the money now.
My Dr says to me I am to have no stress that’s a joke after this budget.
This has targeted the people who can least afford to go lower below poverty line.
The Government make the mistakes and they need to pay the price, cut their pay packets to $20,000 a year
The problem is Norma, that it is not this Government that made the mistakes. It was Labor. They mismanaged the finances and gave themselves a 100% payrise in the process! If only the rest of us could get a 100% payrise for failing at our jobs.
I am part self funded and part pension and I feel I will be fine. Delete a cup of coffee or a beer per week, don’t buy the latest iThingy or upgrade the car or suv each 2 years. People should learn to live within their means and not on credit. By not maxing out credit cards and paying the full amount each month, you will save the interest.
Hi James, I am glad that your ok but I feel sorry for those families, pensioners and unemployed that are not as fortunate as you through no fault of their own. Most people only use their credit card when there is no other options, like to pay for medication or doctor’s bill before payday. These people are already doing it tough before this new LNP budget, The LNP are doing this for their own ideology and not because there is a Debt crisis in this country. The Government debt could of been reduced over a longer period with a more humane budget. The wealth of this nation is not being shared fairly. This Budget is disgusting. It is not the Australian way.
I whole heartedly agree James. People today have come to rely on someone else to back them up when they overspend and buy “wants” instead of necessities
The claim by Costello and Hockey that changes in the documents of the Budget were made transparent by the Government is entirely untrue. All one has to do is look at the evidence base (Costello guarantee of no changes prior to the election) to come to an accurate conclusion. This budget is an absolute disgrace. Austerity measures again. Making the poorest and most needy people in society fix the problems and at the same time allow the most affluent to accumulate more wealth. How dare they drop mining taxes, tax GP visits, increase script costs, reduce school and hospital funding and remove the school kids bonus.
I very clearly remember both Costello and Hockey continually telling us all how bad the previous Government was. Well, Hockey will never receive an award for being the World’s best treasurer and Costello will never save us from a global financial crisis and what about the advertising of the Queensland Government Pollies – measures for building more hospitals, roads, schools etc. These would have to be the biggest ironies of all time. These people are all an absolute disgrace, get their way through lies and innuendo and are not capable of running anything correctly. These people need to be removed from office as soon as it is possible.
Dropping the mining tax that actually produced no tax anyway is not really an issue. Why are some people so up-in-arms about these budget measures? The budget is in a mess, the growing deficit will not go away unless something is done. Governments cannot go on recklessly handing out money without dire consequences. Labor did this and that is why we have this current problem. Unless people want us to end up like Greece, something has to be done. The budget is hitting everyone, the successful and the low and middle income alike. No-one likes it, but it has to happen. Better to have a Prime Minister that is prepared to sacrifice his career for the sake of the country than an opposition leader that is prepared to sacrifice the country for the sake of his career.