Workers and families already doing it tough have had their safety net replaced with a concrete slab.

A number of measures in the latest Commonwealth Budget are aimed at getting all Australians to do the “heavy lifting” in the effort to rectify the economy from a state of “budget emergency” to one of all-round profitability.

But the bulk of that lifting will come from young workers and low-income families.

Stay-at-home mums will be stripped of family benefits and all such schemes will have their rates reduced.

The Abbott Government will cut spending on family benefits by almost $8.3 billion over five years, lowering the maximum eligible income to $100,000.

Conspicuously absent from the Budget papers is Tony Abbott's "signature" Paid Parental Leave scheme.

The only word so far has come from the Department of Social Services, which says it will continue delivery of Labor's $1.9 billion paid parental leave scheme, while continuing to design the new one. 

There is a hint of help for some though, with new concessional Trade Support Loans of up to $20,000 for businesses to cover a four-year trade apprenticeship.

There is a bonus for businesses that employ older Australians too. If a business hires someone person over 50 who has been on unemployment benefits or the Disability Support Pension for over six months, it will receive a payment of up to $10,000 under a new program called Restart.

But these small sweeteners come with a fair pile of salt.

The government is looking to save $914.6 million over four years by scrapping the Tools For Your Trade Program, which provided tax-exempt payments to support apprentices purchasing their own tools.

$1 billion will be cut from training by the scrapping of ten industry programs and schemes to help engage workers.

The Accelerated Australian Apprenticeships Program, the Australian Apprenticeships Mentoring Program, the Workforce English Language and Literacy Program will be abolished.

The Apprenticeship to Business Owner Program will be maintained in a vaguely similar form, with the allocation of $476 million over four years to establish a new Industry Skills Fund. The fund has been flagged to deliver 121,500 training places and 74,300 support services to back the needs of small to medium enterprises not being met by the current national training system.

Australian Industry Group Chief Executive Officer Innes Willox welcomed the new skills fund and the Trade Support Loan Scheme.

Simiarly, the Housing Industry Association Chief Executive of Industry Policy and Media Relations, Graham Wolfe, welcomed the loan scheme but slammed the death of other schemes.

“We are, however, concerned with the cessation of the longstanding Workplace English Language and Literacy (WELL) program,” Willox said.

“Currently, over four million working Australians do not have adequate literacy and numeracy skills for the modern economy. We must ensure that developing these vital skills does not lose priority.”

Mr Wolfe said the new skills fund has a much narrower focus for the industries it can help.

There disproportionate attention on health and biomedical products, mining, oil and gas equipment technology and services; advanced manufacturing, defence and aerospace neglects other important work areas including construction, he said.

Wolfe said he was extremely disappointed at the decision to ditch the National Rental Affordability Scheme in its final round, which will save $235.2 million over three years.

He said the scheme had delivered thousands of affordable homes to needy families, but will fall behind even further with the lack of housing support in the transport infrastructure splurge worth tens of billions.