Mums forced to take on extra jobs to cope with cost of living
PARENTS are selling their possessions or taking up second jobs just to make ends meet as cost of living pressures soar.
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EXCLUSIVE
CASH-STRAPPED parents are turning to selling their possessions, working as Uber drivers and taking loans from friends, according to new research that shows families are drowning in the cost of living.
Close to one in six Australian parents can’t afford to stay at home longer than a month after having a baby as they struggle to make ends meet.
And a shocking 8 per cent only have enough cash to last one to two weeks after the birth of a child.
News Corp Australia can reveal the true cost of living pressures families are facing following a national survey of 2005 parents with children aged 0-12 years by finder.com.au.
Childcare is crippling families as News Corp Australia has been revealing all year, with parents naming this as their biggest budgetary stress.
The inaugural finder.com.au Cost of Kids 2017 Report found more than eight out of ten Australians (86 per cent) struggled with some financial stress when they had kids. Two in five (39 per cent) said childcare fees were the biggest stress — forking out thousands of dollars every year on childcare.
A total of 17 per cent of respondents had sold belongings or assets, and about one in six had changed jobs to one which allowed them to work from home.
Almost one in ten parents had done freelance work to make extra money, while 7 per cent had started some kind of online business.
Around 7 per cent had borrowed money from friends or family, 6 per cent from the bank and 4 per cent rented out a spare room to make ends meet.
Starting a blog to make cash resonated with 3 per cent of respondents and 2 per cent had become an Uber driver to make ends meet.
Bessie Hassan, money expert with finder.com.au, said families were buckling under cost of living pressures.
“This research shows almost half — 42 per cent — of families are taking measures in order to bring in some much-needed extra income,” she said.
“Having children is becoming more and more expensive and it shows in the figures too that people are having less children per family than they did years ago.”
Ms Hassan encouraged couples to try and build up a buffer of savings before having kids.
“Raising kids can be stressful enough without being crippled by money worries,” she said.
“Setting up good savings habits before the kids are born could be life changing.”
Jo Briskey, executive director of The Parenthood, said the findings were “shocking but not surprising”.
“Especially with the costs of childcare stressing the family budget so much, this should sound alarm bells for government that they are clearly not getting the early years right for parents or kids,” Ms Briskey said.
“We also have one of the worst paid parental leave schemes in the developed world and it’s really concerning. Parents and new mums are being pushed to the limit with financial pressures on top of zero sleep on top of work and this is real recipe for disaster not just for mum but also for bub.”
Education Minister Simon Birmingham said the government was working hard to try and ease the childcare burden for parents.
“We know the pressure families are feeling from the costs of child care. That’s why we’re overhauling the system to deliver more support for more families,” Senator Birmingham said.
“Our hourly rate cap will put downward pressure on fee increases and our extra investment will put thousands of dollars back in the pockets of many families.”
Extra job to make ends meet
Jacinta Franich, 50, wanted an easy way to make some extra cash to help with the cost of raising her three kids Jasper, 15, Felix, 13, and Piper, 10.
The Bondi-based counsellor took up a second job as a Shebah driver — a unique ride-sharing service for women, driven by women.
“The cost of raising kids is enormous — it is private schooling and all the activities they want to do,” Ms Franich said.
“We are just scraping through at the end of each month and the money from this goes into a separate account so we have a buffer for emergencies and also any holidays we might want to go on as a family.”
Ms Franich said she earns an extra $250 a week from driving clients with Shebah and said she could earn double that if she chose to work weekends.
“I want to spend time with my family and doing something like this on the side means I can choose when I want to work,” she said.
“The family think me doing this is a good thing. They of course don’t like the fact have to keep the car clean but I think they are quite supportive of it.”
Mum becomes an Uber driver
Lorna Berry, 47, is struggling to make ends meet.
The mother of three, Samantha, 20, Dylan, 12, and Grace, 4 says it’s tough every week trying to raise kids and keep up with day-to-day expenses.
The Mount Waverley-based business development manager knew she needed to find a way to earn extra cash and so 18-months-ago took up a second job 20-hours a week as an Uber driver.
“It’s extremely tough — there is always something to pay for and Dylan has dental issues so we have to keep up with that,” she said.
Ms Berry said she earns on average an extra $500 a week from her Uber service and needs that cash to “stay above water”.
“That helps to pay for food, rent, bills — it is not for luxuries,” she said.
“Without my Uber driving we would be going backwards.”
Ms Berry said the family had managed to keep childcare costs down for their youngest Grace by sending her to family day care part time and relying on free care from grandparents.
“Hopefully we can try and get ahead and save a deposit to buy a house, but living is just so expensive.”
In need of extra cash
Jo-Anna O’Neill, 50, is a single mum to Eloise, 9, and Joshua, 11.
The beauty therapist knows how tough keeping up with day-to-day expenses can be and wanted to find a way to supplement her income so she could take the kids to the movies or out for burgers without having to feel stressed about the family budget.
Ms O’Neill makes about an extra $200 a week by accepting jobs on Airtasker — predominately ironing and washing.
“Every week is different but it definitely helps big time,” Ms O’Neill said.
“I can fill up the car with petrol, buy groceries for the week and then still have extra money for the weekend to do some nice things with the kids.”
Ms O’Neill said she felt taking on a second job that she could do at home was helping her kids understand the value of money and working hard.
“It’s a great way to ease pressures but also for my kids it helps them to see how all these things come together. That if we want to go out and do nice things together we have to earn it,” she said.
The lowdown
86 per cent struggled with some financial stress when they had kids
39 per cent say childcare fees are the biggest stress
15 per cent changed jobs to one that allows working from home
17 per cent sold belongings to make extra cash
13 per cent borrowed money from friends or the bank
4 per cent rented a spare room
3 per cent completed jobs through Airtasker or some other job board
2 per cent became an Uber driver
16 per cent can only afford to be at home one month after having their baby
Average Australian family can only survive 6.5 months on one income after having a child