Government welfare payments are not high enough to lift people above the poverty line especially when the high cost of housing is taken into account. However, there are simply not enough jobs available for the number of people looking for them. At any one time there are around 5 people unemployed for every job vacancy. As well as this, there are many people who are counted as being employed who would like to work more hours. The longer a person is unemployed the higher is their chance of being in poverty. Almost 400,000 people have been unemployed for 12 months or more or 61% of all unemployed people. The fact that the unemployed receive $30 less per week than other social security recipients pushes them further below the poverty line. In this time when many people complain of having to work very long hours in their jobs there are so many others who can't find any work at all.

What can we do to help?
The Federal government never tires of telling us how well we are doing as a country compared to other countries. Our economic growth rate is better, our interest rates are low, our incomes are rising ... This may be the case but on poverty rates we have not improved since the early nineties. We are the 5th worst among the rich countries for poverty. In a country that prides itself on giving everyone a fair go and helping your mates when they're in trouble, this is a situation that should concern all of us. Why aren't our politicians telling us what they are planning to do to lift people out of poverty? They don't seem to want to know. They remain blind to the obvious suffering of so many. Why for example did the government give people who probably didn't need it, a cut of $4 in their income tax? What about those people who don't earn enough to pay tax? They got nothing. The $2.6 billion could have been better spent on employment programs to help the long-term unemployed lift themselves out of poverty.

Over the last few months there has been a Senate inquiry into poverty in Australia. Let's hope that out of that inquiry comes some real hope for action to fight for the rights of the poor in Australia to a decent standard of living and a fair share of the wealth of this country. We need to let our leaders know that we will judge them on how they treat the most disadvantaged in our community.

This week is Anti-Poverty Week. Check the website www.antipovertyweek.org.au for events near you.

TEACHING AND LEARNING ACTIVITIES

Religion

1. "It will be necessary above all to abandon a mentality in which the poor- as individuals and peoples- are considered a burden ...as intruders trying to consume what others have produced ..." - Pope John Paul II. The Pope is warning us not to blame the poor for their own situation. Why do you think that many people do? What was Jesus' response to the poor?

2. "In teaching us charity, the Gospel instructs us in the preferential respect due to the poor and the special situation they have in society: the more fortunate should renounce some of their rights so as to place their goods more generously at the service of others" - Pope Paul VI. What are our responsibilities to assist the poor in our society according to Paul VI? Should we be demanding another tax cut for ourselves?

3. Being human is not about greed and what I can get for myself, but about care and compassion, about supporting one another. What sort of world would it be if we just didn't care about other people, but just about ourselves?

4. Make a list of 15 things that you think you need to get by in your life. Now check your list with your partner. Negotiate a common list between you of 10 of the most important things. What does this tell you about the choices that some people have to make in our society?

5. Research a welfare organisation like St Vincent de Paul Society: www.vinnies.org.au or the Smith Family: www.smithfamily.com.au and find out:

Social Science/ Commerce/ Economics

1. Brainstorm ideas about what poverty might mean. Then in groups of 3 or 4 come up with a definition of poverty. Compare your definition with others around you. Compare it with the definition on page 9 of the document found at: www.smithfamily.com.au/khk_pdf/khk_resource.pdf

2. List the causes of poverty found on this page.

3. Go to page 13 of the same document and decide whether the statements are true or not. Discuss your answers in groups of 3 or 4. Then report to the whole group.

4. Play the survival game on page 19 of the same document. Can you distinguish between a need and a want? Do the activity on page 21 to help you decide. Answer the review questions on page 23.

5. Read page 25 and compare the list with your own life.

6. Read Joe's story on page 28 and answer the questions on page 26.

7. Complete the quiz at: http://www.smithfamily.com.au/quiz.cfm?randid=222222

8. Go to: http://www.smithfamily.com.au/content.cfm?randid=470815 and answer the following:

9. Brainstorm some solutions to the problem of poverty in Australia. Compare your list with those around you.

10. Write a letter to your local politician asking them what their policy is on helping those in poverty.

PARISH AND COMMUNITY GROUPS

Read some of the submissions to the Senate Inquiry into poverty at:
www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/clac_ctte/poverty/submissions/sublist.htm

Take part in an Anti-Poverty Week event. Check the calendar as follows: