A University of Sydney study has found that Australian government emergency cash payments, like JobKeeper, significantly helped young adults with pre-existing mental health disorders during the pandemic. Its findings can be built on to inform future crisis support plans about the importance of financial aid. , published in , investigated the impact of cash transfer payments (specifically JobKeeper and JobSeeker Supplement) provided during the COVID-19 pandemic and found young Australians with neurodiversity and/or mental health conditions who received JobKeeper coped better through the pandemic than those who did not receive JobKeeper.
JobKeeper was an emergency cash transfer payment from the Australian Government, paid to businesses, not-for-profit organizations, and sole traders to give employers to retain the employment of their workforce and to maintain connection with their employees through the "lockdown" phases of the pandemic to prevent job losses. Co-authors, Dr. Md Irteja Islam, Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney and Professor Alexandra Martiniuk, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, examined in Australian adolescents and young adults.
"This is important as we grow our understanding of national (and indeed international) policy strategies to support mental health and well-being during crises. Particularly given how many people globally are suffering with poor mental health, and global destabilization, conflicts and inflation contin.