The COVID-19 payment has been expanded, but Australians who receive the youth allowance while working aren’t eligible. And they’re struggling.

Younger workers are disproportionately represented in hospitality and casual work (Image: Adobe)

Australians on youth allowance who’ve lost work because of lockdowns say they’re only scraping by and are considering stopping their welfare payments because receiving them makes them ineligible for the federal government’s COVID-19 emergency payments.

With more than 10 million Australians now in lockdown, Prime Minister Scott Morrison expanded the COVID-19 disaster payment to provide $600 and $375 to workers from the second week of lockdown. 

However, workers who receive income payments already are excluded from this payment. JobSeeker recipients who had lost work told Crikey they were struggling to make ends meet because they had immediately lost income but were provided no additional support from the government. 

Find out more about how young Australians are struggling…

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