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One expert has raised concerns that recent data indicates many individuals are “doing it tough,” while another suggests the situation may not be as “dire” as it appears.
Residents in disadvantaged areas and those grappling with severe psychological stress are more likely to face financial challenges.
People aged 35 to 49 emerge as the age group most likely to encounter financial difficulties.
Grant Dusting, a social researcher at McCrindle, remarked that the report aligns with data he has reviewed. He emphasized the need to look beyond broad statistics, which can obscure the struggles individuals are experiencing.
“Individuals in their mid-twenties to late thirties have made the most significant cutbacks in their spending,” Dusting noted.
Same groups, same pressures
He said those on welfare payments, including JobSeeker, disability support and the pension, “are the people who are facing serious stress”.
“They’ve got a housing plan to build new houses and to boost social and affordable housing, but I think it’s pretty small fry,” he said. “I don’t think it’s going to make any major difference.”
Poverty and housing pressures
“The steep increase in rents in recent years has had a particularly severe impact on people with the lowest incomes,” she said.
The share of low-income renters spending more than 30 per cent of their income on rent — known as rental stress — climbed from 52 to 57 per cent from June 2021 to June 2023. Source: SBS News
From June 2021 to June 2023, the median advertised rent for units rose 40 per cent in Sydney, 34 per cent in Melbourne and 41 per cent in Brisbane.
An Anglicare Australia report found just 1.7 per cent of rental properties were affordable for an aged care worker, 1.5 per cent for a nurse, and 1.1 per cent for a construction worker.
Is the gap growing?
“Anyone who has exposure to investments and shares and stocks, they’ve been pretty good over the last few years — and that tends to be people who are more established and older.”
One in seven low-income households with a mortgage is struggling, with one expert saying high interest rates are hurting them the hardest. Source: SBS News
Phillips said while it’s “absolutely true” that younger Australians are finding it harder to buy homes, on the rental front, things aren’t much worse than before COVID-19.
Phillips said higher interest rates have hit mortgage holders hardest, but because they’re often higher-income earners, that doesn’t translate to “substantially” higher financial stress.
Real wages have recovered, with growth in nominal wages and moderating inflation, according to the report. Real household income has also grown after two years of declines. Source: SBS News
Real wages have recovered, with growth in nominal wages and moderating inflation, the report found. Real household income has also grown after two years of declines.
“I don’t think income inequality has changed that much … that means that the top are doing about the same as those at the bottom in terms of how they’re improving,” he said.
‘Not disastrous’, but ‘not uniform’
“It’s not unusual to see those sort of numbers of people in some form of financial stress. It doesn’t mean that they’re in dire straits, but it does mean they’re having some troubles keeping their head above water.”
