Stats: Key financial stressors

The inability to pay basic household bills on time is one of the biggest red flags of financial stress

The 2018 Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia [HILDA] Survey report was released in July. The study of more than 17,000 Australians provided information on a range of social and economic issues.

From 2001 to 2016, the HILDA researchers interviewed the same individuals and households each year to find out how their lives had changed in various domains, including economic wellbeing, household expenditure and income. By analysing this data, the researchers were able to determine some of the root causes of financial and household stress, and pinpoint which groups experience the worst of it and why.

ME bank’s latest Household Financial Comfort Report, based on a survey of 1,500 households over the six months to June 2018, also found that renters and mortgage holders experience financial stress differently.