Mr Morrison, who was speaking at the launch of the government's $72 billion infrastructure fast-track plan, said the most alarming statistic he had encountered during his career was that if a young person wasn't in work by their early 20s the odds were they faced a future of welfare dependence.

"You have to get people into work by the age of 22; 25 at the absolute latest," he told the Committee for Economic Development of Australia's State of the Nation forum.

Mr Morrison's observation coincided with the release of alarming modelling carried out by the Grattan Institute on the impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on disadvantaged students.

Institute researchers found the achievement gap between disadvantaged students and their peers widened at more than three times the usual rate during the period of remote learning. Disadvantage can take many forms, including disability, poverty, multigenerational disadvantage, and the well documented issues encountered by Indigenous students and the children of recent arrivals, including refugees.

Disadvantaged students in the ACT could be disproportionately impacted because of the length of the school closures in the territory. Schools here were closed for eight weeks, just one week less than in Victoria.

While the Grattan modelling does not come as a total surprise given many experts saw this coming, and the very serious attempt made by the ACT government to create as level a playing field as possible, the problem is complex and real. It could reverberate through the community for decades, probably even generations, to come.

This is why the Grattan Institute wants governments around the country to invest up to $1.25 billion into catch-up learning, including small-group tutoring and funding targeted at schools in lower socioeconomic areas.

"Disadvantaged students, because they were already behind, this just compounds an already difficult situation," Grattan Institute fellow and report co-author Julie Sonnemann said.

The modelling highlights the fact there are many perverse and unexpected "double whammys" for the most vulnerable members of the community as a result of COVID-19.

Questions are already being asked about the disproportionate impact the crisis has had on women and the young thanks to the fact that they are more likely to be employed in casual, short-term, part-time, and gig economy roles.

Overseas it is now well-known that the poor, the under-employed, and those in minority groups were significantly more likely to catch the virus - and to die from it - than their more affluent and "mainstream" neighbours. Australia has the opportunity to tackle educational disadvantage head on - possibly even for once and for all.

The best way, after all, to create opportunity, to encourage aspiration, and to get young people "job ready" is through education and the acquisition of literacy, numeracy and other key life skills.

If, as the Prime Minister said on Monday, he and his government are committed to getting young Australians into work on the basis that "the best form of welfare is a job" then this is where he has to start.

Stimulus will need to be ongoing for many more months, in some cases for years. It needs to be weighted to those who need it most. Education can, and should, be a pathway out of poverty. It's time to make it so.