While almost everyone gets a tax cut, one group gets hurt even more

Report after report has shown that the rate is so low that it plunges people into poverty and traps them there.

Today, Anglicare Australia has added to that canon with a new report showing how far below living costs the payment has fallen.

We found that inflation, which surged two years ago and is only now starting to slow, hurts people on the lowest incomes the most.

That's because the cost of essentials like rent, food, transport, and electricity has shot up much faster than non-essentials, like recreation and holiday travel.

For people on very low incomes, there was never any room for those luxuries to begin with.

There is simply no fat to cut from the weekly budget.

That leaves people with the worst kinds of trade-offs, forcing them to choose between rent, bills, petrol and food.

We also found that these trends have been long-term, with the cost of essentials rising much faster than other items for years and even decades.

The value of the JobSeeker payment has been falling further and further behind essential living costs since the '90s.

People trying to survive on these payments have been sounding the alarm about this for years.

But the slowness of this debate shows us how far down the pecking order people are when they're out of work.

Just weeks ago, the government handed down tax cuts across the board for people in paid work, recognising how many households are struggling to cope with the cost of living.

This begs the question: If so many of us needed a tax cut to deal with living costs, why are people on JobSeeker - the ones in the greatest need - being left behind again?

Calls for an increase have been growing for years. Poll after poll shows that Australians want to see JobSeeker raised. Essential Research has found that 72 per cent of us want the payment to go up.

This swelling of support hasn't led to action. But it has robbed the political class of one its favourite lines: that JobSeeker can't be raised because it wouldn't pass the pub test.

It's becoming clearer and clearer that politicians are the ones who are out of step with the community - in the pub and elsewhere.

As the calls for an increase have grown, the excuses have become harder to believe.

The former government used to assure us that the best form of welfare is a job.

But people on JobSeeker are already trying their hardest to land a job - just ask the growing number of unemployed people over 55.

Our research shows that in some parts of the country, nine people are competing for every job at their level.

Many of these people simply can't find an employer who will take a chance on them.

Australia is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, but Australians on Centrelink payments have the highest rates of poverty in the OECD.

So why can't the government agree to make a clear statement on JobSeeker, when an increase would clearly be popular? It seems that simply supporting an increase isn't enough. We must insist on it.

JobSeeker cannot be allowed to fall off the agenda, especially now that so many Australians have been handed a major tax cut. The call can only become more urgent.

We must now demand action on JobSeeker ahead of the next budget.

Last year's small increase barely made a dent after decades of the payment falling behind.

Without a major increase and reform to make sure it keeps up, JobSeeker will keep going backwards while essential costs like rent and petrol continue to rise.

But more than anything, what the campaign to raise JobSeeker shows us is that change is hard won.

The sad history of JobSeeker is littered with reports that were sidelined and studies that were shelved.

Let's make sure this one isn't forgotten.