The latest report by the Reserve Bank of Australia has shown that job losses would have been double if JobKeeper had not been implemented. The wage subsidy program provided a lot of necessary support after all.
The report stated that 700,000 workers’ were saved from unemployment and 1 in 5 workers would have been out of a job if it wasn’t for the subsidy provided in the initial four months of the pandemic.
The scheme provided a ‘lifeline’ of sorts for many workers and helped reduce total employment losses. The report identified that the employment loss could have been twice as large across 2020 without JobKeeper.
JobKeeper eased the financial strain that many businesses experienced during the year. Opening subsidies to part-time as well as full-time employees were further helpful.
Although poor unemployment rates are expected to persist until at least 2022, the support provided by JobKeeper for businesses of all sizes has reduced immediate damages. Importantly, policymakers should not assume that these policies will continue to have a lasting positive impact on the recession, so should continue to work on potential strategies that combat this.
