Is Morrison’s stimulus package just jobs for the boys?

By Cameron Micallef

June 11 2020
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The COVID-19 economic impact has hit women harder than men, yet men are the ones who will benefit most from Scott Morrison’s home renovation package, according to new research.

Research collated by the Australian Institute shows women have disproportionately lost their jobs and hours of work in the recession, yet the government’s latest package will be of little benefit to them.

“Between March and April, the number of women employed fell 5.3 per cent compared with 3.9 per cent for men. And for hours worked, the pattern was the same, with women losing 11.5 percent of their hours compared with the loss by men of 7.5 percent. It is clear that women are facing the brunt of the recession so far,” said Dr Richard Denniss, chief economist at The Australia Institute.

“But despite the clear evidence that women are disproportionately losing their jobs and incomes, the Morrison government is developing stimulus policies that disproportionately favour male-dominated industries.”

The Australia Institute has found that every $1 million spent on education creates 10.6 jobs for women, while every $1 million spent on construction creates only 0.2 jobs for women.

“If the government is serious about maximising the number of jobs it creates, then it needs to focus its stimulus spending on industries like education, health and tourism,” Mr Dennis noted.

In 2019, around 1.15 million Australians worked in the construction industry, which according to government data is about 9 per cent of the workforce.

The government also states that the construction industry generates $360 billion in revenue, producing around 9 per cent of Australia’s gross domestic product.

However, Mr Denniss argued that while it has benefits to the national economy, a better designed policy would’ve been fairer for both males and females.

“While the construction industry has a clear role to play in Australia’s economic recovery, spending taxpayer money on construction will do little to create jobs for the hundreds of thousands of women who have lost their jobs in the services sector.”

“Well-designed stimulus policy aims to create as many jobs as possible per million dollars spent, and it also aims to create jobs for people with the skills to work in the industries who have recently become unemployed,” he said.

Mr Denniss also states that the economic stimulus could target other areas, resulting in greater overall impact for unemployed people.

“The Prime Minister seems to like wearing a hard hat when he talks about job creation, but like the Prime Minister himself, the vast majority of Australians don’t wear hard hats to work each day. Australian policymakers need to focus our stimulus spending on the industries that create a lot of jobs, not the industries that look best in the background of a press conference,” he concluded.

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About the author

Cameron Micallef

Cameron is a journalist for Momentum Media's nestegg and Smart Property Investment. He enjoys giving Aussies practical financial tips and tricks to help grow their wealth and achieve financial independence. As a self-confessed finance nerd, Cameron enjoys chatting with industry experts and commentators to leverage their insights to grow your portfolio.

About the author

Cameron Micallef

Cameron is a journalist for Momentum Media's nestegg and Smart Property Investment. He enjoys giving Aussies practical financial tips and tricks to help grow their wealth and achieve financial independence. As a self-confessed finance nerd, Cameron enjoys chatting with industry experts and commentators to leverage their insights to grow your portfolio.

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