Big stick approach doesn't help the poor

Abbott's view appears to be to make those of us on welfare so miserable that we're forced to look for jobs that just aren't there. I for example, would be happy to go back to the printing industry, but my health simply won't let me. Add to that discrimination (age and health) and the situation is impossible. Some days I just c an't get out of bed until lunch time I feel so bad. How the fuck would I be able to hold down a job when they can hire someone half my age with no health issues? They can clobber with the big stick as much as they want but it doesn't change that situation.

Now a new report out states the obvious; that the big stick is pretty bloody useless.

The Committee for Economic Development of Australia's (CEDA) report "Addressing entrenched disadvantage in Australia" found that more than 1 million Australians were battling permanent disadvantage. 

The report said while the problem of entrenched poverty was a complex issue, current policies aimed at getting people back into the workforce were not working. 

It found this "big stick" approach failed to address a range of issues including education levels, mental health and discrimination. 

"It is difficult to get or hold a job if you do not have anywhere to sleep or have ongoing health problems," the report found. 

"The longer a person spends with significant disadvantage, the more likely he or she is to be stuck there." 

CEDA's chief executive Professor Stephen Martin said successive governments had failed "massively" in dealing with the problem. 

"It's something of a disgrace that [over the last] 20 years, where in fact we've had pretty massive amounts of economic growth, that there's still this group of Australian people who just cannot break this cycle of poverty," he said. 

"We need to tear up the rule book and have a radical overhaul of how we tackle entrenched poverty." 

Those who found it hardest to break the cycle fell into six main categories, according to the report:

Older people 
Less-educated people 
Households with no employed members 
Particular geographic areas 
Indigenous Australians 
Those with chronic health problems  more