Jason

Feeding the kids, paying the rent, electricity, phone bill, car payments, and the list goes on. Although, the outcome stays the same. There are constant hikes in the price of living; but is there ever a rise in wages? Feeding my kids a nutritionally balanced diet has become a thing of the past, with low priced foods, such as junk food being the only option. Think of the impact this has on children's lives? Yet it is a problem I can't solve. The increase in rent has caused me to move into shared accommodation. A family living within a family is not ideal, and restricts the growth of my individual family. Therefore $16 an hour not only inflicts on my life, but also my families.

Purchasing new clothes, going to the movies, going out for dinner, and enjoying my family life outside a cramped house does not exist. All activities have a cost, a cost that isn't allowed for when you are earning $16 per hour. A holiday seems like a dream. One that is never going to happen. Why? Because I'm barely able to pay for the necessities of life for me and my children.  It is all of these little things that people take for granted, that someone like me dreams about.

I feel as though I'm disadvantaging my children all because of the work I do. This creates, disbelief, sadness, misery, heartfelt and shame on my behalf. Earning just an extra $5 an hour would be like winning lotto. It would mean so much. Not just in terms of money, being able to treat my family to outings, just being a family in general. If this happened, I would be over the moon. This would mean myself and the children could move into an apartment, or at least out of others living space and into our own. Or even the stress relief of a more comfortable budget. It would mean a different life.

Jason - Assetlink - Indooroopilly Shoppingtown Qld