The rising costs of mortgages, groceries and insurance are squeezing workers and putting some households under increasing financial stress as they face growing inflation and the Reserve Bank’s continued interest rate rises.
“Higher food and automotive fuel prices in the past 12 months contributed to higher living costs for all household types,” she said.“Annually, food prices rose between 9 and 10 per cent across the household types, driven by fruit and vegetables, while fuel prices rose around 18 per cent.” Shadow treasurer Angus Taylor said the economy was strong, but people aren’t feeling that in their day-to-day lives and last week’s budget did not do enough to help.
As cost-of-living pressures increase, a report by the Australian National University shows one in four workers is struggling to get by on their current income.Before the pandemic, the longitudinal study found 26.7 per cent of Australians said they were finding it difficult to get by on their current income. That fell to 17.3 per cent by November 2020, but by October had risen to 25.1 per cent.