Originally published by Geoff Chambers of The Australian.
03.05.2026
The number of working-age Australians relying on welfare payments has surged to almost 1.4 million, as the Albanese government manages an increasing share of young men and women who are considered unable to work.
Amid concerns about the rising number of younger Australians shifting on to JobSeeker and Youth Allowance (Other) payments, government data shows 733,700 people aged 15 years and over were permanently unable to work, including 36,700 males aged between 25 and 34.
Despite the historically low unemployment rate of 4.3 per cent and near-record high participation rates, The Australian can reveal an additional 122,000 people aged under 34 have moved on to welfare payments since the May 2022 election.
At the end of March, 1,365,280 working-age Australians were receiving JobSeeker, Youth Allowance (Other) and single parenting payments, including 417,240 recipients aged under 34.
While population and labour force growth have increased since Labor inherited a working-age jobless welfare cohort of 877,612, there has been upwards growth in the number of JobSeeker and Youth Allowance recipients. The welfare cohort peaked at 1,624,269 during the pandemic in August 2020.
Ahead of the May 12 budget, which will be framed around addressing intergenerational equity, Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth acknowledged that while youth unemployment remained lower than it was before Covid, “there are unique challenges impacting young Australians in the job market”.
“Despite a record number of Australians in jobs, unemployment low and participation near record highs, we understand young people can still fall through the cracks,” Ms Rishworth told The Australian.
With an increasing number of Australians relying on welfare supports for less than one-or-two-years, Ms Rishworth said “we know the longer a young person is disconnected from the labour market, the harder it is for them to get employed”.
Ms Rishworth said programs were in place to keep young Australians linked to work opportunities, including Transition to Work, Free-TAFE and Raising the Game, which links young people in the gaming industry with targeted training and work experience.
Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows the share of men and women aged between 25 and 34 permanently unable to work has increased over the past 20 years.
The Australian can reveal that for males aged 25 to 34, mental health and substance-use disorders now account for the largest share of disease burden, accounting for 37.9 per cent in 2024, which marked a dramatic spike compared with 2003.
That compares with similar conditions for the total population aged 15 to 64, which came in at 25 per cent.
The number of people not engaged in employment, education or training has fallen by 43,700 since May 2016 to 447,900 in February this year.
With economists warning about stagflation hitting Australia amid fears about high inflation, high unemployment and low output, Ms Rishworth said the federal government was “working hard to keep our labour market strong and stay ahead of any employment challenges to come so no one is left behind”.
“Our government takes seriously our role to support young men and does so through a range of portfolios including Australia’s first ever Special Envoy for Men’s Health (Dan Repacholi),” she said.
Nationals leader Matt Canavan last week appointed central Queensland LNP MP Llew O’Brien as opposition special envoy for men and boys to help them “overcome entrenched disadvantage”.
Over the past 20-years, the share of males aged 25-34 who are permanently unable to work increased by one percentage point to 1.8 per cent. Over the same period, females in the same age group also increased by a percentage point to 1.3 per cent.
The Australian previously revealed that for the first time the number of 25 to 34-year-old men who say they are permanently unable to work now exceeds the number of 35 to 44-year-old men who say the same.
Australian National University public policy economist Robert Breunig last month said the number of young men who were not in education, employment or training “has gone up quite a bit in the last 10 years”.
“These are 18- to 30-year-old men. And they’re not enrolling in universities. Women are 60 per cent – now – of entering university students in Australia. Men are only 40 per cent. They’re enrolling a bit more in VET training, but there’s a lot of them who just seem to not be doing anything.
“What are they doing? They’re hanging out at their parents’ house playing computer games – that’s one story that we hear. Or they’re kind of drifting around and not really finding their place in life.”
Western Sydney University vice-chancellor George Williams also warned Australia was facing a generation of “lost boys” as “young men fall behind”, and they should be given “opportunities to catch up”.
