New data reveals Australians living pay-to-pay will struggle amid the COVID-19 outbreak

COVID-19 is triggering ‘class shock’ with celebrities sidelined as grocery workers become stars. New data reveals one in five Aussies will run out of money in a week if they become jobless.

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Exclusive: COVID-19 is triggering some serious ‘class shock’ with a reversal of our social hierarchies and a reinvention of our values, which has seen sports stars sidelined, grocery workers elevated and the middle class standing in Centrelink queues.

It comes as new data shows one in five Australians who have lost their jobs amid the outbreak could run out of money within a week.

Leading demographer Bernard Salt said the world is living a version of the “Independence Day” movie where the entire globe is mobilised by a single issue.

Demographer Bernard Salt said we are living a version of a sci-fi movie where the globe is mobilised against a single threat.

Thousands of Australians are now in need of assistance from Centrelink due to the coronavirus outbreak. Picture: Claudia Baxter

“Even in the second World War we divided behind two camps whereas this is a single event and a single threat, we are all connected by the threat,” Mr Salt said.

“It’s a common theme from every sci-fi movie; humanity puts asides its differences to come together and fight a foe from another planet. It not an alien but the principle is the same.

“Are the terrorists doing their stuff or are they scared witless like everyone else?”

Mr Salt said the virus had dismantled some social structures – suddenly celebrities, sports stars and social media influencers were sidelined while shelf fillers had become key workers.

“These people are the controllers of the toilet paper and we have realised how important these seemingly menial jobs are,” he said.

The social commentator added influencers and celebrities had “taken a back seat” and those who had ventured out had been heavily criticised by the public for being tone-deaf through the crisis.

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“It is almost like a retreat to core values and valuing people for what they produce in our hour of need,” he said, referring to health care workers, supermarket workers and even journalists.

Kelly Ell was made redundant from her airline job and said the day she lost her job “felt like the worst day of my life”.

“But the next day I woke up and I didn’t have to be anywhere and I started to look at all the things going on that I had been missing. I had been so obsessed with my career I started to see the beauty in things,” the mother of three said.

Kelly Ell with Max, 10, and Thomas, 8. She says her perspective has changed since being made redundant on April 2. Picture: Richard Walker

“I was doing drop off, I can help with maths and homework and my son said to me; ‘Mummy, you are really good at this,” she said.

“It has really shifted my perception of the world – I am lucky my husband is still working but it makes you realise Centrelink is not just for people who couldn’t get ahead in life.

“It’s like the ‘control, alt, delete button’ has been hit on the world.”

New data from Finder’s Consumer Sentiment Tracker has found a 142 per cent increase to COVID-19 Centrelink content in the past week.

It also found one in five Australians who have lost their jobs amid the COVID-19 outbreak could run out of money within a week and almost half of Australian workers are living pay check to pay check.

Their research has revealed 13 per cent of Aussies could live off their savings for less than a week, while a further six per cent have seven days of living costs saved up and nearly one third of Australians would not make it to the one-month mark on the money in their bank account.

The situation is even worse when looking at regional areas with 52 per cent of those in regional areas live pay-to-pay, compared to just 43 per cent of those in metro locations.

Only 22 per cent of regional Aussies could live off their savings for more than 6 months.

Dr Jill Sheppard from Australian National University has researched class and identity in Australian society and said the current crisis had flipped our social norms.

“Workers with university degrees, expertise in technical fields and experience in new and emerging service industries do not have job security in this new environment,” she said.

“One really important element will be around the stigma of welfare and Centrelink.

“As upper and middle class workers find professional jobs drying up, they will lean on the government like never before. In this way, the crisis will hopefully break down misconceptions and stigmas around who needs and who deserves welfare in Australia.

“The pandemic seems to have flattened a lot of Australia’s class divide.”

For more information on improving your finances, visit www.finder.com.au