Means Testing



Financial stress is a persistent challenge for many Australian households. It is also a growing problem following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Around one… Read More ›

Refining Welfare Policy for Financial Stress

‘The Australian retirement income system is effective, sound and its costs are broadly sustainable’ according to the Retirement Income Review chaired by Mike Callaghan. While… Read More ›

Is Australia’s Retirement Income System Delivering on Its Potential?

For a brief period when the JobSeeker unemployment benefit was increased to $550 per week and conditionality was relaxed, Australians had access to a type… Read More ›

Has COVID-19 Opened the Door to an Australian Basic Income?

Studies seeking to measure inequality across households typically use a methodology which produces results that we argue are seriously misleading if they are intended to… Read More ›

How Equivalized Household Incomes Are Misinforming Tax and Transfer Policy

Suddenly losing your only source of income, when you have no savings, and with family members who rely on you, is a nightmare at any… Read More ›

Social Security and COVID-19: Exposing the Limits of Social Protection?

Many social security systems across the world link pension benefits to earnings. The rules vary significantly across countries and pension schemes, ranging from purely unfunded… Read More ›

Means-Testing and Temptation: How Self-Control Affects the Welfare Effects of Various Social Security Arrangements

At the heart of the debate over higher compulsory superannuation sit big trade-offs that are too rarely acknowledged. Boosting retirement incomes inevitably comes at a… Read More ›

On Any View, the Case for Higher Compulsory Super Hasn’t Been Made

There is a case for not proceeding with, or at least further deferring, the legislated increase in employers’ compulsory superannuation contributions, the Superannuation Guarantee, from… Read More ›

Grattan Institute Attacks the Wrong Target – Pension Assets Test Is the Problem

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