Over the last two years, growth in wages and salaries have not kept up with rises in the cost of living.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates the cost of living for the average “employee household” rose by 16.7% in the two years up to December 2023.
In contrast, average wages, as measured by the Wage Price Index, rose by only 7.7% over the same period.
As a result, many workers have had to either cut back on spending or find ways to supplement their regular income. Perhaps the simplest strategy, especially when demand for labour is strong, is for households to increase their working hours.
This might involve family members who previously did not have paid employment seeking work, or individual household members seeking either more paid overtime or a second job.
This is how businesses avoid paying out benefits like healthcare to their workers.
Nobody seems to get this. Each time minimum wage goes up, employers balance that by splitting jobs over more people and make getting full time harder. They don’t have to provide benefits and they get more clout about how many jobs they create. It’s all upside for them.
Real work reform would be providing benefits to everyone. If people get benefits directly from the government, then they get more negotiating power with their employers because moving between jobs is lower risk when you aren’t losing benefits as part of that.
But pulling levers to raise wages is easier than redesigning the way we provide health, dental, vision, life, and retirement to our citizens so that’s what keeps happening and things just get more expensive in lock step.
I want to see health benefits decoupled from jobs. I don’t mind employers enhancing benefits but standard care should be available to all. I think that’s the first step to limiting the power of corporations.
I mean yeah, let’s just do a universal healthcare, maybe. There are problems sometimes, but have you seen how it’s going without it?
I think healthcare generally speaking is fine. My main reason for supporting it is because employers have to much control. You can’t just quit your job because you wouldn’t have healthcare. That gives the company a lot of leverage.
It is, nonetheless, not without problems. First complaint I usually hear is “wait times” but, when was the last time you needed something major and didn’t have to wait? Most places with socialized healthcare don’t have obscene wait times, they just have regular ones.
Me? I’ve never had to wait for anything really. Normally it’s my schedule that’s the issue. When I needed my gall bladder removed, they did it the next morning. When I needed knee surgery, it was two days later because I had to a chair for me to sleep in. We don’t really wait long in this country.
I just don’t like employers controlling your healthcare. I’d rather wait a bit and take that control aware.
I’m not Australian so this might be a stupid question - is that how access to healthcare works in Australia?
Sort of? Past a certain income level ($97 kAUD), you pay an additional levy (1 - 2%) on your taxes for the public system (which goes into supporting it), but otherwise can access it for relatively low cost/free if you’re a citizen, in an insurance-like system (if you go to a place that doesn’t do it automatically, but still qualifies, you can get a rebate).
You can avoid paying the tax if you opt for private health insurance, and don’t use the public system altogether.
Neither of them are tied to employment, although some employers do offer health insurance as an extra addition in pay package bundles, like they do with cars and things.
