Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

List of abbreviations

List of tables and figures

1. The receiving end of welfare

2. Poverty, deprivation, resilience

3. Housing

4. Social connections

5. Working lives

6. Barriers to and support for working

7. Welfare as work: Dealing with Centrelink

8. Values and ethics about income support

Afterword: In the no-standing zone

Appendix 1: The research project

Appendix 2: The characteristics of our participants

Notes

Bibliography

Index

About the Author

JOHN MURPHY is Associate Professor in the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne. His most recent book is A Decent Provision: Australian welfare policy, 1870 to 1949 (Ashgate, 2011). SUELLEN MURRAY is Associate Professor in the Centre for Applied Social Research at RMIT University. Her most recent book, with John Murphy and others, is After the Orphanage: Beyond the children's home (UNSW Press, 2009). JENNY CHALMERS is Senior Research Fellow at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales. SONIA MARTIN is is Lecturer in the School of Global Studies, Social Science and Planning at RMIT University. GREG MARSTON is Associate Professor in the School of Social Work and Human Services, The University of Queensland.

Reviews

'This important and illuminating book provides a powerful and harrowing depiction of the inadequacies of the Australian welfare system. Its findings challenge the foundations and direction of the welfare reform agenda.' - Prof. Peter Saunders, University of New South Wales. 'This major new study challenges many myths about life on welfare and in low paid work. It should be read by anyone concerned with welfare reform.' - Jane Millar, Professor of Social Policy, University of Bath.