In Australia, our welfare payments for the unemployed are very low. A little over $400 per fortnight, about $16 per day after rent has been payed. A lot of Australians receiving this payment are finding it very hard to get by and look for work as they are no longer able to afford important things like cars, healthcare, etc. In various places I have seen comments essentially saying that it is not the government's responsibility to subsidise a certain standard of living. I disagree with this statement but I am not sure what standard of living should be the minimum which the government would assist people to get to. Perhaps free healthcare in addition to an increase in the standard payment would then allow people to keep their car, buy clothes for job interviews, and eat three healthy meals per day.

As per discussion guidelines, I have a few questions to get the discussion going:

    What is welfare like in your area?

    What do you think should be the minimum standard of living which a government should support?