Over 1/3rd of Australians facing financial difficulties: Survey

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Canberra, May 8 (IANS) More than one-third of Australians are finding it difficult to get by on their current incomes, a survey has found.

On Wednesday, researchers from the Australian National University (ANU) published the results of the latest edition of ANUPoll, which has been tracking the views of Australians since 2008, Xinhua news agency reported.

It found that as of January, 34.2 per cent of more than 4,000 respondents were finding it difficult or very difficult to get by on their current income.

Nicholas Biddle, lead author of the report and head of the School of Politics and International Relations at ANU, said in a media statement that it was the highest rate of financial stress measured by the survey since February 2020.

Among participants in January's ANUPoll, 62 per cent said they are spending less on groceries and essential items in response to financial pressure, and more than 50 per cent said they have postponed major purchases.

"Perhaps unsurprisingly, given this financial strain, there's also been a drop in satisfaction with the direction of the country," Biddle said.

"It was down to around 62 per cent, a drop of almost 10 per cent from January 2023."

When asked to rate satisfaction with their own life on a scale of one to 10, respondents gave an average answer of 6.55, lower than the average rating in 2019, 2020, and 2023.

Biddle said the figures were equivalent to the results of polls that were conducted when a large proportion of the population was in lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic.

January's survey had a particular focus on the Australian housing market and found that the proportion of the population, who are falling behind on rent or loan repayments, more than doubled from 2.2 per cent in April 2017 to 4.8 per cent.

--IANS

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