How is COVID-19 hitting your family budget?

Researchers are looking for working families and couples to interview over the next few months about how the coronavirus outbreak is affecting their household finances – and participants will be reimbursed for their time.

A new study is looking at how the coronavirus outbreak is affecting household budgets.

While governments scramble to prop up national economies during the COVID-19 outbreak, a new study is looking at the financial impacts of the virus at a household level.

University of Melbourne economics expert Antonia Settle is tracking how the “economic shock” is affecting households and looking for working families and couples to share their experiences.

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She said participants would be interviewed for 30-90 minutes by phone or videolink each fortnight and asked about their household income, spending and saving over the past 14 days.

The study will happen over an eight-month period, but people can stop at any point.

Households will receive a $30 gift card after each fortnightly interview.

Experts say many households were already financially stressed before the global pandemic hit.

Dr Settle told the Leader the study would help researchers understand the shock associated with the crisis, expose weak points in household budgets and inform how they could be better addressed.

“This is pertinent in Australia, where households are stretched between high levels of debt, increasing job insecurity, stagnating wages, and climbing costs in basic payments categories like medical and education costs, not to mention housing,” she said.

“The huge shock to employment and consequently to income that the pandemic imposes on many households thus lays bare the economic insecurity experienced by Australian households long before the pandemic.”

She hoped the research would inform policies to address these vulnerabilities and better protect households.

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Dr Settle said all interview responses were 100 per cent confidential and data would be stored securely and not used for any other research.

If you are interesting in taking part you can contact lead researcher Dr Antonia Settle on 0449 960 026 or at [e-mail]