It could also be argued that a portion of a household savings (e.g. liquid assets) should be used to smooth the impact of lost earnings. For instance, in Australia, unemployment assistance benefits are subject to a liquid assets waiting period of up to 13 weeks. On the other hand, asset testing can be viewed as unduly impoverishing benefit recipients who can be expected to return to work when labour market conditions improve and, to a certain extent, punishing those who carefully managed their budgets prior to losing their job. For instance, including non-liquid assets in the assets test implies that these should be liquidated before public support will be provided, or alternatively that households should borrow against these assets to cover lost income.