Savings drained, meals skipped to make ends meet

More than a third of Australians expect the rising cost of housing, utilities and transport will cause them significant financial stress.

ACTU secretary Sally McManus. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

More than a third of Australians expect the rising cost of housing, utilities, transport and medical treatments will cause them significant financial stress over the next 12 months, a big increase compared to a year ago.

An ACTU survey of 3000 workers in February found more than half used their savings to pay for their daily expenses, 46 per cent postponed or stopped planning a holiday, and one in four were skipping meals.

Thirty-two per cent believed the increased cost of food and groceries would put them under pressure over the next year, 91 per cent thought the cost of living had got worse over the past 12 months, and 87 per cent thought electricity prices had worsened.

Forty per cent surveyed said it would cause significant financial stress in the next 12 months for them to meet housing costs, an ­increase of 14 percentage points.

There were also double-digit percentage-point increases when people were asked whether rising transport, medical, utility, food and grocery prices would cause them significant financial distress in the year ahead.

Eighty per cent of workers agreed it was getting “harder and harder to save for a comfortable retirement” compared to 68 per cent a year ago, while just 31 per cent said their household was ­better off than 12 months ago.

According to the survey, 68 per cent reduced or stopped spending on non-essential items; 56 per cent reduced spending on essential items; 51 per cent used savings to pay for expenses and 24 per cent had been unable to pay bills or had fallen behind on bills.

One in five had sold assets to “help get by”; 19 per cent borrowed money from friends or family; 14 per cent moved or looked for more affordable accommodation and 12 per cent took out a new ­personal loan or other debt.

ACTU secretary Sally McManus said the research confirmed the real impact of the cost-of-living crisis. “A decade without wages growth and current inflation has left millions of Australians cutting back, doing without essentials and some are even going without meals and avoiding visits to the doctor,” she said.

“Workers are a long way ­behind, and many are just keeping their heads above water.”