Toowoomba single dad reveals pain of rising cost of living

Thom couldn’t buy his daughter a birthday present last year and struggles to make ends meet with rising living costs. He reveals what it’s like for a single dad on about $1000 a week.

Thom Roker with his daughter Poppy-Jo Roker and dog Vincent. Picture: Nev Madsen.

Thom Roker faced the reality of telling his 10-year-old daughter Poppy-Jo that he wouldn’t be able to afford a birthday gift for her last year.

“I never thought I’d get to the point where I had to sit down and tell her she couldn’t have a present,” he said.

The 45-year-old sole parent is just one of thousands of Toowoomba residents struggling to make ends meet, largely due to the Covid-19 pandemic and rising cost-of-living expenses.

Laid off as an English teacher for international students in 2020 and spending several months unemployed, Mr Roker said he moved to Toowoomba to avoid paying $500 a week in rent in Brisbane, while also selling his car due to ongoing expenses.

Cost of living has become a top election issue for both major parties, with petrol, rent, groceries, medical expenses and childcare costs all in the crosshairs.

A 2019 parliamentary report found the living cost index for an average household at increased by more than 23 per cent over the prior decade.

Locally, Toowoomba’s tight rental market has forced many families to pay much higher rents and has forced many into motels or caravan parks.

Toowoomba's Thom Roker with his daughter Poppy-Jo.

“You don’t have money, you live from pay-to-pay — no money for swimming or karate lessons,” Mr Roker said.

“Everything was becoming more and more expensive, which is why I had to get another job, because I couldn’t live on $1000 a week.”

His situation was made worse when two years ago he was cut from receiving the sole parenting pension due to Poppy-Jo turning eight.

“This anxiety became a reality, because I went from having a sole parent pension to Jobseeker, but Jobseeker is poverty,” Mr Roker said.

“There was a period of time where the Covid supplement was there, but because I wasn’t earning anything I could only afford to eat.”

Mr Roker, who now has two casual jobs that pay the bills, said the future is looking a little brighter after a bleak two years.

“The light at the end of the tunnel is I’ve started working again,” he said.

“(My employers) both tell me that they pay at the end of the month but fortunately, the end of the month is coming up.”

But he said the anxieties of trying to make ends meet took its toll for families with a single income.

“The cost of living (is going up) and also those little things microfinancing things like Afterpay (are there), my credit card is maxed out — I’m a long way from getting back to level,” Mr Roker said.

“A lot of my friends who have got kids are in the same situation.

“There’s generational trauma going on here — it’s a perfect combination that leads to a generation of people who are disadvantaged due to their situation.

“My daughter is already behind the Eight ball, she is statistically less likely to go to a top school or university, all because she has a single-parent household.

“I’ll do everything I can to make sure she has everything she needs, but there are going to be kids who are going to have really tough lives.”