Single mums have been contacting brothels and strip clubs looking for work.
There have been reports over the weekend that single mothers whose welfare payments have been cut this month are turning to prostitution and stripping in order to make up the shortfall.
News Limited reported that brothels and strip clubs around Australia have reported a sudden rise in the number of single mums looking for work. They believe the rise in interest has come in the wake of the Federal Government’s changes to single parent support payments.
The changes saw up to 84,000 single parents (mostly women) moved to a ‘Newstart unemployment allowance’ when their youngest child turns eight.
Many of those parents said they would be worse off under the changes, receiving between $60 and $100 less a week.
IN OTHER NEWS STORIES AROUND TODAY:
More than 90 per cent of school counsellors encounter “over-involved parents”.
A Queensland University of Technology survey has found children are so closely parented these days it’s affecting their life skills.
The survey of 130 school counsellors and psychologists found only eight per cent had never encountered ‘over parenting’ (also known as helicopter parenting).
Examples of the over parenting included “a parent cutting up a 10-year-old’s food, forbidding a 17-year-old to catch a train to school or confronting other parents about why their child was not invited to a classmate’s birthday party”.
Joe Hockey gets gastric band surgery.
Joe Hockey in The Australian Financial Review.
Coalition treasury spokesman Joe Hockey says he’s lost 20 kilograms after having gastric band surgery over the Christmas break.
The 47-year-old said he’d lost the weight because of the procedure, a healthy diet and regular exercise.
In an interview with the Australian Financial Review, Mr Hockey said “I’m shaping up for Wayne Swan’s job.”
Anti-vaccination campaigner finally quits.
Meryl Dorey
Anti-vaccine campaigner Meryl Dorey has resigned as leader of the Australian Vaccination Network (also known as The AVN.) The anti-vaccine lobby group – with an extremely misleading name – has also announced it will stop publishing its newsletter.
In recent years, Dorey and the AVN have been active in propagating vaccination myths to sway parents against vaccinating their children.
The resignation of Dorey, who founded the organisation in 1994, comes just weeks after the NSW Minister for Fair Trading announced that the AVN would be required to change its misleading name before February 21 this year.
Dorey, will be replaced by Greg Beattie. The father of seven told Fairfax he would not change the AVN’s name until “a plebiscite of members was conducted.”
Comments
62 Comments so far
I think they were having a slow news day. There are always new people entering the sex industry for whatever reason. I have not seen an increase of sex workers, no more than the usual new faces.. but what would i know, im just a sex worker lol.
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can julia gillard and the rest of them please give those pay rises back you do not deserve it you know that people are struggling to make end meet. and now i have to her that single mothers have to prostitut them selfs to make ends meet what a joke/. my dad was right never trust a politician
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Given the recent tone of articles regarding prostitution on this website, I fully expected this to be a piece about how empowering the prostitution is for those choosing to enter it and how misrepresented the profession is.
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Why are there so many single parents anyway? How can so many people get it wrong when chosing a life partner to start a family with?
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I think it’s because of the welfare system
We have so many single parents, women are no longer forced financially to stay in horrible relationships. They have a safety net. This is a good thing.
What I hate more then anything is married women who don’t work complaining about their taxes being wasted on welfare for single mothers. Those women should be grateful for that safety net. It isn’t a lot of money but its enough to get you out of marriage/ relationship if u need to.
It is very very hard to re enter the job market. I am qualified and after taking a Year off work to look after my baby it took another 6 months to find another job.( and that was because I knew someone) It would be much much harder after 5 or 6 years even After being retrained.
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Because no one was taught to overcome issues but instead just break up
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Yeah, I should of just copped the beatings and stayed. Such a naive comment
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The comment wasn’t directed at subjects of violence.
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Who was it directed at then? 99% of people with kids don’t just break up the family and decide to try and do it on their own for fun you know. It’s bloody hard, even more so if you have no family support system or friends.
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I am more than happy for my taxes to provide a safety net for single parents in their time of need. But dont try to tell me that thousands upon thousands of good husbands suddenly become monsters to their wives after they have children.
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You do know a lot of men leave their wives / partners don’t you? You seem a little confused about the whole situation of why couples split, and how people become single parents. It happens for a variety of reasons, obviously none of which you have been subject too. lucky you.
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I know at least 10 single mothers, and all
Of them are in this position because their husbands who apparently ‘adore’ their kids, got the hots for another woman and left. And then after the dust settled have all made their ex wives grovel for every cent in child support. Charming really.
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I agree Lucy.
Sure some people
Need to leave but the vast majority today are simply too selfish to try and work it out. Cant think of anyone elses feelings but their own.
And guys if you get a woman pregnant who you are not in a relationship with for gods sake grow up and support the child anyway. Your child should not be punished because you’re irresponsible and tax payers arent there to bail you out.
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Because men aren’t interested in being parents.
Because people split up.
Because people die.
Because accidents happen.
Everyone has their own reasons for being in the situation that they’re in.
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why do people break up?
Well, the main reasons are family violence and death.
Not many would choose to be single parents, its bloody hard work, I know this, I have been a single parent to 4 for the past 13 years due to domestic violence.
Those who are telling single mums to just go out and get a job – its not that easy… I needed a job and the only one that I could get that keeps me only just above the poverty line is over 2 hours from my home, so not only do I work a full 37.5 hour week, I also commute 22.5 hours – during which time my children (who all have issues due to the violence that they have suffered – as do I) have to stay at home, and get themselves to and from school. If I am sick, which is regularly, I have to take time off work, or go to work sick, if the kids are sick I have to go to work and leave them.
We don’t take holidays, my leave is taken up with appointments, doctors, specialists, counsellors, school performances and problems.
Unless you have lived in a single parents shoes, you cannot judge.
We don’t have the support when we get home from work, we have more work, because at home, its just one parent to do what 2 parents would normally do – the housework, lawns, gardens, animals, kids, shopping, taxiing, organising, paying bills, cleaning up vomit in the middle of the night….. 24 hours a day 7 days a week 365 days a year (my kids haven’t had contact with their father for 10 years because of the violence – many single parents don’t get a break – ever)
over 60% of single parents already work and/or study, we don’t sit around watching daytime TV. We are educated, articulate and very, very busy.
Work is something that has to fit in with your needs, if you have an 8 year old child but work minimum wage, you are only going to be earning what the child care costs are, or if you live in an area where there is no child care (and you have no family like myself) then you have to get work within school hours. Where are all of these jobs?
Parenting Payment Single, which we have now been moved off, already had participation requirements, all the change has done is drop the payment amount to way below the poverty line, and the threshold to one that doesnt take into consideration the number of children you have.
When you have walked a mile in my shoes, then you can judge (taking into consideration that my shoes are already second hand because I cant afford new ones)
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What about if you become a single parent because your partner DIES???
Exactly how are these people “getting it wrong”?
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I am aware that sometimes a partner dies l have a friend who`s partner died and left her with two young children. she is an absolute credit to her family and single mums. But l dont for a minute think that is the reason we have so many single parents
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There are a heap of reasons given above.
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My father was a single parent on a parenting payment. When my youngest brother went to school, he found full time employment after being out of the work force for 5 years. We went to family daycare and/or before and after school care. The payment should only be for people who cant work during the day as their child isnt at school.
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hmmm…I wonder whether the single parents who are turning to stripping are declaring their income correctly to Centrelink?
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We can’t have them getting ahead a little can we. Such a self righteous comment. I hope people like you do it hard one day, and I mean hard. I’ve been homeless, and I made money where and when I could and kept it. Shame on me. People like you have no idea.
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The $100 dollars makes an awful lot of difference.
And people forget that you actually have to find a job that is school hours, or find a job that pays enough for childcare (on the off chance that you can find a childcare place for your child/children on they day/s that you need).
Losing the $100 dollars a fortnight made a massive difference to me and my family, but luckily I am in the position of being a professional role on a reasonable salary in flexible workplace. Oh yes, and actually have had work experience and (university) qualifications. Notwithstanding all this, I couldn’t actually increase my hours to make up the difference. I was already working more than school hours and to put my children in daycare more hours wouldn’t have balanced out financially. Not to mention for my children’s well-being,and mine for that matter. Don’t also forget the concept of single parenting being that all the domestic role is your responsibility too. And that your children still actually need parenting!
The only conclusion I could come up with was that the Government was suggesting my 8 year old was old enough to be left alone at home? Or that her 10 and 12 year old sisters were old enough to be looking after her?
(And in case anyone is worried, yes we coped ok, but I am one of the lucky ones).
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Another prostitution topic yay.. not!
If there’s a rise in single mothers looking at this as a realistic option then I blame it on all the pro-prostution topics that make out like this industry is empowering in any way.
What a joke for $100!
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the changes were announced Two Years ago and dont take effect until youngest child is 8 – i find it hard to believe all of a sudden genuine single mums are forced into brothels, to me it seems more like an orchestrated event “created” to make the news.
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What a disgrace… the govt. should be reviewing their policies on single parenting immediately. I am almost 42 I didn’t choose or want to be a single parent – I had a very good career and still do but whilst with my daughters father I took a step down to be a mum and we moved to a small rural town from Canberra. Dont get me wrong I still worked just from home as a contractor so I could be here for our daughter. Being a contractor I don’t get paid regularly but when I do I can just make it thru so I do rely on the single parenting benefit at times between clients paying me – but let me assure you it all evens out. I am required to submit a profit and loss statements monthly to Centrelink and now because my daughter is turing 8 in Sept (yes almost 8 months away – they are getting me used to reporting) Centrelink requires me to submit a looking for work form every 2 weeks this is because some months even though I work full-time in my business the money isn’t always recorded or paid by my clients to meet Centrelinks requirements for the profit and loss (this seems to change each month). Without getting into to much detail after 3 months of stress and absolute incompetency on Centrelinks behalf I have put in a formal complaint. I have seen downright disrespect for clients and little empathy for their incompetencies at the customer service level.I have seen earlier comments about kids at 8 are in school etc. Let me put this to you my daughters father has her 4 days a month because he works! I have her the remainder and I work but I work around her so I can be there for her – best of both worlds you would think! If I was to leave the home to work or get one of these jobs that don’t exist I would be commuting for hours and only spending 1 hour + a day with my daughter during the week as she would be in care after school also. People making these comments are either in a participative dual parent relationship or don’t have children. My daughter would not be able to socialise with friends during the week or participate in extra activities. I would not be able to participate in her school community – which is so important if you can but sadly is not always possible for some parents. My daughter would be in the care of strangers. As Centerlink have said to me Im not the ‘normal client’ – I work and want to work. So when you see me rallying on February 5 with all the other women (and men) single parents – don’t judge us and make us the stereotypes you have been writing about. Many people in this circumstance do it tough and try to do the right thing. Like I say walk in my shoes for a day personally, emotionally and financially and see how you feel. Id be rallying on the steps of Parliament House in my home town if I could – but be assured I will be rallying no matter what. The whole stripper thing got everyone’s attention – its not about stripping its about the desperation of parents doing anything whether it be stripping or working all night (like am supposed to be doing now) so they can spend the day with their kids, feed them clothe them etc. The lady with 4 kids working full time who commuted 22 hours a week and ended up with $25 left each week that is the real story… Maybe we should start looking at the absent parent – my daughters father has been good but legally he only has to pay a day a third of what people pay to have their kids in childcare – pretty cheap babysitter!!! Think about it we will end up with a society of kids who have no family or community values because their parents are absent. And K I here what you are saying about most parents cant afford or have the luxury of to staying home – but try doing it all on your own!
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Well isn’t prostitution a job???
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This was a reply to another comment but I’m going to post it again because I have just realized I’m quite passionate about this issue, I even got over trying to watch the video of Jennifer Lawrence dissing her fellow Oscar nominees!
If you were a single parent (who had to work 9 to 5 in order to pay the bills, rent/mortgage, and provide food for the family everyday) with no support from family or the mother/father of the child, you would be happy to let your 8 year old child come home to an empty house? Not to mention getting home, school finishes at 3:15pm at the latest, last time I checked, public transport is not very child friendly. Would you like your child to be involved in any extra curricular activities such as music, sport or academic clubs or even play dates with other children their age? Forget about it! How are you going to get them there after school? Other parents? Good luck getting to know them and trusting them with your child WHILE YOU’RE AT WORK (sorry about the shouting capitals)! Also how are you going to pay fees for these clubs?
Oh and while I’m on the subject SCHOOL COSTS MONEY TOO (again sorry)! Uniform, books, stationary, transport, excursions, the list goes on! Would you be happy if your child was to miss out on these important learning tools and opportunities? One thing they would not miss out on would be the bullying they received from other children who are more well off/are too young to understand the situation. Not great for the child’s social and self confidence. Low self esteem and instability at home is not a great mix, I’ll let you work that out!
Would you like to be present in your child’s life. Would you like them to be able to look back on their childhood with fond memories of the only parent they have? Good luck fitting in quality family time between constant work and sleep. Still assuming you’re a single parent with no support from family or the other parent, weekends DO NOT EXIST! So taking away time after school and weekends when are you going to spend time with the EIGHT YEAR OLD CHILD? When you’re tired and grumpy from working non stop to provide a quality and happy life for your child.
Want to spend time with your baby? Be prepared to live out of your car because it’s hard to pay for all the things mentioned above with no money!
I am by no means supporting the fact that there is a rise in the number of women seeking work at brothels and strip clubs. I would just like those making “suck it up and find a real job” type comments on this post, try to have a look at things from a different angle, even if it’s just for a minute to decide you don’t agree.
I predict that the percentage of single parents looking for work in the sex industry will keep rising, as will sexually transmitted infections. I also predict the number of single parents and their child/children living in their cars will sky rocket. Another prediction, the number of underage children consuming alcohol, legal and illegal drugs will also increase. I guess we’ll all see if I’m right a few years down the track!
Oh and by the way! HOW YOUNG DO YOU HAVE TO BE TO BE CLASSED AS A YOUNG CHILD????????
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hhmmmthe world is full of married women who also have to work from 9 to 5 to help pay the bills and keep a roof over their head.
They also wrestle with this problem on a day to day basis
you would be happy to let your 8 year old child come home to an empty house? Not to mention getting home, school finishes at 3:15pm at the latest, last time I checked, public transport is not very child friendly. Would you like your child to be involved in any extra curricular activities such as music, sport or academic clubs or even play dates with other children their age? Forget about it! How are you going to get them there after school? Other parents? Good luck getting to know them and trusting them with your child WHILE YOU’RE AT WORK
I’m afraid that it’s a universal problem and you shouldn’t use it as justification on why single mothers shouldn’t have to work. Nothing that you have said in your long drawn out comment doesn’t also apply to married mothers who have to work.
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If you read my comment again you will see that at no point do I suggest that single mothers should not have to work at all! In fact I do not mention mothers as a specific group either. Single fathers have it as tough as single mothers, which is why my comment only refers to single PARENTS. As I say the purpose of my comment was to try to get those people making “suck it up” comments to realize how hard it is and look at things from a different angle. I also never made any attack on married mothers/parents, though two incomes is better than one and so is having the moral and emotional support of a spouse rather than absolutely no support at all!
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If this so, where are all the deadbeat dads? Why are they paying so little in child support for their own children that their ex partners feel they have no other choice?
Appalling.
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And dead beat Mums. They exist too.
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The Single Mother’s Allowance does not change over to Newstart until the youngest child is 8! So these single mothers are NOT trying to squeeze in jobs around “looking after small children” as someone has suggested below. All the children are well and truly school aged. I went back to work when my youngest was 4 because we needed the money. Not many parents (single or otherwise) have the luxury of being a stay at home parent once their children are school aged. To suggest single mothers are FORCED into the sex industry is nonsense and a beat up.
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My reaction at first to parents turning to stripping or prostitution was a bit wtf. It’s one thing to choose to enter that profession but as a result of having your payment reduced by $200 a fortnight seemed quite extreme. But when you figure in childcare if you can even get it or trying to find a job in school hours only I can see why someone might choose one of these options instead. Plus some of these parents have been out of the workforce for a long time, if they were ever in it at all. Not particularly easy to convince an employer to take a chance on you if you have zero recent work experience and haven’t upskilled or at least taken some sort of course lately. Blank resumes aren’t that enticing in an economy where even full ones don’t guarantee a job these days.
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If you work at a brothel or strip club and only bring home $60-100 a week you’re doing something very wrong, so these women are obviously looking to greatly increase their income, not just make up for the money they’re not receiving anymore. They could make that amount of money delivering catalogues once a week or doing one shift at a supermarket.
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Yes, there are so many jobs at supermarkets these days, aren’t there. Do you know who gets the ones that are available? 16 year olds that’s who.
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16yr olds aren’t available for day shifts Mon-Fri, or late shifts on school nights, often have sporting commitments on the weekend and depending on state laws usually can’t work in liquor or sell cigarettes (which sometimes means they can’t work on the registers in the express lane at all, which these days is where staff are really needed). I used to be assistant manager at a supermarket, and more than half the people we hired in that period were aged 40+. With many supermarkets now open 24hrs school aged kids make up a small part of the equation because they can only work a few hours of that.
But my point wasn’t about supermarkets, it was about the that you don’t have to do much to make $100. Even the most basic entry level jobs (or even things that aren’t really jobs, like delivering the local paper in your neighbourhood, dogwalking, at home data entry and so on…btw all things I’ve done) will easily get you there.
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I used to be in retail management too – in a department store. There are now about half the number of staff hired that there used to be due to self service etc. They rarely hire people who only want one or two shifts a week – that is what juniors are for. Stop being naive about how readily available work is for a single mother who has been out of the workforce for a significant period of time. Times have changed.
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For some women, the workforce is a terrifying unfamiliar place, which they have never navigated, nor their parents or many of the people around them. There is a ‘welfare class’ of people who have been raised by welfare dependent people and are now welfare dependent themselves. It is a very difficult cycle to break out of and we should be working with these women to build their confidence to be able to do it, rather than shame them for turning to the only work that their self-esteem is comfortable with.
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You don’t think a brothel would be a terrifyingly unfamiliar place?
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That’s why these parents are mived onto a newstart allowance, where there is weekly appointments with professionals who have access to funding for training, clothing and counselling.
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I’m on the Parenting Payment Single, and I have access to all that too. Why not start moving single parents on to the same obligations when the youngest is, say, 6? That gives them 2 years to get their skills and training happening, and start finding work. Rather than just cutting them off. It’s all run out of the same offices, I don’t see what moving to Newstart (a misnomer if ever I’ve heard one) has to do with what you can access. If it’s in Centrelink’s rules, change the rules to that rather than cutting people off the way they have.
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I definitely agree with your comment about starting work skills training much earlier, i think that would be fantastic.. I also think volunteer and community work should be a way of single parents continuing their parenting payments if they are unable to find jobs… Also JETT should be doubled! 10c per hour full time childcare is fantastic for full time students, but it should go for 4 years instead of 2! That way before/after school care can be included after daycare. Allow women to feel strong and independent but dont force them into poverty,
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Here’s a thought! Why dont the helicopter parents leave their kids alone and use some of their newfound spare time helping a single mum by minding her child while she earns some much needed money???
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I was a sole mother for years and would not and did not join the sex industry for extra income.
I also worked in womens’ support industry for years.
I think people are missing the point- the child protection system is very flawed and I know of many women who had their children removed- or threats of removal- and put into the foster care system as their children were identified as truanting school. The crime of the women- escaping from a domestic violence situation with multiple children where no housing support is available. They are required to move to a new area regularly to escape in spite of the new new laws to protect against this, are frequently living in a car or a different house each night and can’t afford petrol to take their children to the ongoing school, to ensure that in spite of all the upheavals, the children can remain in the same school, with continuity of teachers and friends when all else has been ripped away. The loss of the estimated $60-100 per week is those fuel costs etc.
I had a supportive family during my sole parent years, who took care of my children as there were a few child care places for a hour or two and the places that were available cost more than my income, and as I had an education/skill base to fall on, I didn’t have to resort to other jobs that would have been horrific. I do not judge women who resort to sex work. Who would choose that unless no other options were available?
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I thought the reduction in payment didn’t happen until their child was 8, so they’d be in school, not child care.
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Totally agree. I know I would do anything to keep my children fed, educated and housed. Looking for a job is difficult, and one in school hours even harder. And one that pays enough to cover rent, mortgage and living costs? Very difficult.
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I raised my kids myself and mostly always worked full time as a secretary. Did a second job for a while but that was just spending money. Minimal child support. Kids went to after school care. I scaped by but there were no extras, never a holiday, no car sometimes when it broke down and I couldn’t fix it so I sold it. We managed and they both have great work ethics. When your kids are at school what do you do all day? You should be at TAFE or whatever learning something.
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All I can say is LOL
You can work one shift at a pub to make $100.
To say you are forced into stripping and prostitution is a joke – all for a measly $60-$100 a week. So ridiculous!
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Working one shift at the pub, vs going to see a client for one hour when you have small children and can’t afford a babysitter for an entire shift? It’s not about the dollar value, it’s about the time. I consider the fact that I’m able to be a student and work in hospitality (especially at such a great, social place) a luxury after having worked as a nanny and understanding just how “time poor” parents are.
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The payments have been cut for mothers with children 8 or over. Kids who are in school 8 hours a day, 5 days a week (and I would assume at least some of these kids spend a chunk of time with their father on the weekend).
5-7 hours work in a basic entry level job will get you $100. I know single mums who work 60-80 hours a week and still manage to be there for their kids before and after school, so it shouldn’t be that hard to work one day a week or do 2-3 short shifts (btw, there’s always work available if you’re willing to do short 3 hour shifts in retail. Everyone else HATES those shifts, but they’re good if you have other commitments).
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” I know single mums who work 60-80 hours a week and still manage to be there for their kids before and after school”
How?
60 hours a week equates to 12 hours a day. 80 hours a week equates to 16 hours a day for a 5 day week. Lets say the kids are awake at 6.30, and go to bed at 8.30 (for the ease of rounding). They’re at school from 9-3. So that’s 6 hours. 2 1/2 hours in the morning, 5 or so after school. and you claim they’re working between 12 and 16 hours a day? When? How are they doing this?
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Well firstly I know very few professionals who actually work just five days a week these days. Most work AT LEAST one day on the weekend and are always taking work calls and emails.
How do they do it? They leave work at between 2-4-ish (depending on if their kids have school based after school stuff going on) to pick up the kids, then start working again at 8-9-ish, sometimes at home, sometimes in the office. They don’t get a ton of sleep obviously, but no one working those kinds of hours does.
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So they’re professionals in roles that offer flexibility?
How many single parents do you think have the opportunity to get those kinds of jobs? Seriously?
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It also depends where you live… don’t assume that everyone lives in a capital city where these opportunities exist. I am working full time and doing the right thing but man its hard on your own.
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I commented on this last night, but it hasn’t got through for some reason.
If you’re working a 5 day week, a 60 hour week is 12 hours a day. An 80 hour week is 16 hours a day.
How are these parents still there for their kids before and after school? I really want to know.
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$100 might be a joke to you obviously, but it sure as hell ain’t to a lot of people.
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But how much is $100 really worth? – To me $100 is a pathetic amount to lose part of my self, my beliefs, my self-respect, the respect of my friends/relatives should they ever find out & not to forget the respect of that child/ren should they ever find out in the future..
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$100 will buy food. Newstart allowance doesn’t even cover rent and bills such as electricity. So it may not be much to you, but it is a lot to most single parents and their children. And to the people that say parenting payment is a “luxury” are wrong. It just pays for necessary expenses…there is no luxury…and most single parents work or study as well to provide for their children now or in the future. I don’t think it will do this generation or society any good, being at home alone before and after school each day…this will lead to many problems such as underage drinking, etc
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What a load of crap.
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helicopter parenting !!!! is there a relationship between that and the decreasing results of our education system? how hard is it to teach children who feel that what they want to do at the moment is more important than the rest of the class?
And yes we have improved since we had education forced fed, but is education going backward when we cant discpline because of parents “protecting” their child’s right to be an individual.
sorry on my soap box again. i have had teenagers complain to me that they cant learn because their teacher “can’t control the classroom” not because the teacher is a poor teacher.
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Because these single mothers could not have gone and sought other employment, as opposed to stripping and prostitution?
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That’s exactly what I thought! No matter how dire my financial situation becomes, I will never be ‘forced’ to do prostitution, any more than I’ll be forced to rob a bank or deal drugs. For me none of the above are options, full stop.
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