What is wrong with this picture?

Let me say at the beginning that I am very grateful for Centrelink. Having travelled to other countries, and having friends in many, I realise that we are very fortunate to have a government which supports citizens when they need it. Social security is a privilege we need to appreciate.

Having said that, I find it very worrying that it appears to work against families. Please do not see this as some sort of rabid, right-wing, family friendly attack on liberalism because it certainly is not that. Far from it.

As a single mother I received a parent support payment until my twins were 16 years old, at which time they went on to youth allowance. All good and much appreciated. When they were 18 and finished school I had to leave home for a period of time. The boys were working and getting ready for Uni.

While I was away both boys started at University and were living together. One was classified as independent because he had managed to earn the requisite amount of money, the other was still seen as dependant on my income... negligible as that was. It is worth noting that being dependant on my income is not to say that he was 'dependant'. I could not claim him as a dependant for tax purposes because he was receiving youth allowance. So one would have to say pseudo-dependant maybe.

When I was able to move back home, and both boys wanted me to stay near them, we thought we would move in together. Each paying a share of the rent and bills, because much as I would like to, I do not earn enough to support them completely. All seemed to be going according to plan. We found a place near where I am working which had good access to buses for the boys. It is a nice house, not over-the-top luxurious. but nice. Good fences for the pets who are an important part of our family. And we liked that we were together.

As anyone knows, moving is expensive and resettling into a new place takes some time. However things seemed to be going okay and we figured it would all settle in time. The boys filled out their Centrelink forms on time and got them in and we thought all would be well.

Our first stomach churning moment was the day that the pseudo-dependant boy tried to pay a bill from his account and discovered that there was not enough money. A quick check showed that the amount deposited by Centrelink was substantially below what was expected. Well this does happen from time to time so we decided not to panic. Harder than it sounds, but a familiar situation experienced by many.

A Monday morning call to the necessary phone number brings the unwelcome news that, unbeknown to us, there is a maximum amount that can be paid if one is living with a parent, regardless of how low their income may be. Ouch. Well that was going to hemorrhage our carefully worked out budget. Especially as they had started deducting the amount they had paid him while they were getting the paperwork up-to-date.

Now, we were not frantic yet. I know that there are lots of people worse off than we are, and I do have a secure job. Many do not. We would find a way to manage this.

Well that was until, a few weeks later, we discovered that 'independent' is also a relative term. Same scenario as above. Less in the bank than expected, the Monday morning phone call and the same unpleasant news. However this time the shortfall is even greater and more significant. So what now?

The easiest solution is for me to move out and for them to get someone else to share the house. Though all of our names are on the lease so that could be problematic. They could work more hours, though that would only jeopardise their studies and reduce their youth allowance more anyway.

I try not to be cynical but sometimes it is difficult. I still can not claim either of them as a dependent for tax purposes. I can not accept that it would be better for them to drop out of university. That seems very shortsighted. It seems that the most inconvenient thing that one can do is to raise caring, responsible boys who at the age of 21 still want to live with their Mum.