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Huge cost of shutting down schools

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has revealed the huge economic cost of the school shutdown as he warns re-opening schools is crucial.

Centrelink overwhelmed as millions face unemployment amidst Covid-19 crisis

Shutting down schools for classroom learning is having a big impact on the economy according to Scott Morrison.

The Prime Minister has warned allowing children to go back to school is central to getting parents back to work today and even being productive when working from home.

“When it comes to schools, the school shut down … that flows through to around 304,000 jobs,’’ he said.

Mr Morrison said the schools shutdown had impacted gross domestic product (GDP) by an estimated three per cent.

The sector that’s been most impacted is the hospitality, food services and accommodation sector, which has seen a loss of about 441,000 jobs, even though its impact in terms of the percentage decline in GDP is lower, at 2 per cent.

In retail services, there’s been a 1 per cent decline and 146,000 jobs. Just under 120,000 in construction jobs, and around 108,000 in arts and recreation services jobs.

The broader remaining industries have seen around a 4 per cent fall on GDP but that has translated proportionally to fewer lost jobs.

Speaking after today’s national cabinet meeting, Mr Morrison warned there was also a huge flow on effect from the closure of restaurants and cafes to suppliers.

Mr Morrison said when restaurants and cafes were closed, they were not buying produce from the agricultural sector like they were before.

“So there is a compounding of the effect and so keeping those times and places closed — and there have been very good reasons for having them closed — but the longer that goes on, it is not just the waiter and the chef that is affected, it is the food producer, it is the supply chain that goes into those sectors, and we need to take that into account.”

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Scott Morrison at today’s press conference.
Scott Morrison at today’s press conference.

CORONAVIRUS IMPACT

* $4 billion a week wiped from economy under current restrictions

* $50 billion total hit May-June, or 10-12 per cent of GDP

* 1 million JobSeeker claims processed

* 5 million people getting JobKeeper

* 1 million people accessing early super

* 384,000 businesses getting $7 billion in cashflow assistance

* $30 billion more cash support to prop up economy over next month

MARCH 14 - APRIL 18

* 7.5 per cent of Australian workers lost their jobs (roughly one million people)

* Wages dropped 8.2 per cent

* One in three accommodation and food sector jobs gone

* 27 per cent of arts and recreation jobs lost

* Electricity, gas, water and waste workers escaped relatively unscathed

* Victoria lost the most jobs and the Northern Territory the fewest

* Tasmania saw biggest wages drop and South Australia the smallest

* 18.5 per cent of Australians aged under 20 lost their jobs

* Australians aged over 70 had their wages cut by 10.7 per cent

BULLETS DODGED

* Eight-week European-style full lockdown would have wiped $120 billion or 24 per cent from GDP

* Full closure of schools and child care for three months would have removed a million adults from the workforce and cost GDP $34 billion

More to come.

— With AAP

Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/australian-economy/huge-cost-of-shutting-down-schools/news-story/84991878a71936622f0f2049b533223b