‘Who is the economy booming for?’: Damning report unveils scale of WA cost-of-living crisis

A damning report into the rising cost-of-living crisis has found even dual-waged households in Western Australia are struggling to make ends meet and those on middle incomes have exhausted their savings, prompting fresh calls for targeted relief.

The Western Australian Council of Social Service’s annual cost of living report, released on Thursday, concluded more West Australians were experiencing financial hardship and having their living standards eroded as the cost of essentials outpaced income growth.

The report found many households are struggling to cover the cost of essential items within the household budget alone.Credit: Getty Images

According to the report, spending by single-parent families was outstripping earnings by $94.12, with weekly expenditure rising by 14 per cent — underpinned by rental cost increases and rising transport costs.

Age pensioners living mortgage-free were the only model household to end the week with surplus funds.

The two-parent families were more than $60 out of pocket, marking the first time the model two-parent family’s income has failed to cover basic living costs since the report series began in 2007.

Over the past 12 months, weekly expenditure for two-parent families has ballooned by $167.23 — well beyond wage growth.

The report warned the situation forced a choice between cutting back on essential items or obtaining financial credit, putting families at risk of debt spiral.

Despite increases to JobSeeker last year, the report found unemployed singles were “teetering on the edge”, with their basic living costs exceeding their weekly income by 15 cents.

Meanwhile, living costs for renting pensioners have increased by 10 per cent — meaning many are handing over more than half of their income to rent.

But those aged 67 and over fared better in terms of transport costs, with the state government’s public transport concessions keeping travel affordable.

The report pinned the blame on soaring rental prices on the back of record low vacancy rates outpacing income growth and leaving low-income families unable to cover basic living costs.

Transport costs have also risen, and the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows food and non-alcoholic beverage prices had risen 3.4 per cent in the 12 months to August, with the cost of fruit and vegetables climbing a whopping 9.6 per cent.

WACOSS chief executive Louise Giolitto said it was another tough year for West Australians, but especially for those on lower incomes — with reports of people skipping meals, rationing medication and forgoing heat and cooling in their homes to save.

Giolitto used the report to implore the government to prioritise investment in the needs of those in the country’s best-performing economy over multibillion-dollar budget surpluses, calling for support for weekly essentials like housing, transport, food and utilities.

“Community support services, which are critical to well-functioning and fair societies, have been underfunded for years and are being forced to cut outreach programs and reduce staff hours,” she said.

“It is clear that our systems are not working for far too many Western Australians, and our community does not have equitable access to life’s essentials. If we are going to build a fairer WA, it is time for urgent and targeted action.

“The economy should serve the people, not the other way around. Significant portions of our community are being left behind while our economy is booming, which begs the question – who is it
really booming for?”

But WA Premier Roger Cook fiercely defended his government’s handling of the cost of living crisis, pointing out that it had invested more than $1 billion in cost-of-living measures across 20 programs and initiatives in the past 12 months alone.

He said his government was doing its best to support West Australians without driving inflation.

“We have the school clothing allowance and the increased kids sport allowance, which meant some families were getting up to $525 in assistance to help their kids with the cost of going to school and undertaking sport,” he said.

“Every time we do that, we get criticism from some parts of the economy saying ‘you’re doing too much’ in terms of cost of living, and other parts of the economy saying ‘you’re not doing enough’.

“When I was elected, I said I would do two things; I’d keep the economy strong, and I’d help those that are doing it tough, and that is precisely what we’re doing.”

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