The Essential Report Archive Read the latest report

  • Apr, 2020

    , ,

    Financial situation during Covid-19 outbreak

    Q. Which of the following best describes your financial situation during the Covid-19 outbreak?

      27/04 20/04 13/04 06/04 29/03 22/03
    I do not expect the Covid-19 will impact my income 27% 25% 23% 24% 26% 24%
    I have sufficient savings to deal with a short-term loss of income 26% 27% 29% 28% 32% 26%
    I will struggle with a short-term loss of income, but will get by 31% 31% 33% 31% 23% 29%
    I will be in serious financial stress with short-term loss of income 16% 17% 16% 16% 20% 21%
    Base (n) 1,054 1,051 1,068 1,069 1,086 1,034

     

        Household Employment
      Total Have dependent children Do not have dependent children In paid employment Not in paid employment Retired
    I do not expect the Covid-19 will impact my income 27% 22% 30% 17% 29% 52%
    I have sufficient savings to deal with a short-term loss of income 26% 25% 27% 31% 18% 25%
    I will struggle with a short-term loss of income, but will get by 31% 36% 28% 35% 33% 18%
    I will be in serious financial stress with short-term loss of income 16% 17% 15% 17% 20% 5%
    Base (n) 1,054 349 705 546 261 219
  • Apr, 2020

    , ,

    Financial situation during Covid-19 outbreak

    Q. Which of the following best describes your financial situation during the Covid-19 outbreak?

    NET: Agree 13/04 06/04 29/03 22/03
    I do not expect the Covid-19 will impact my income 23% 24% 26% 24%
    I have sufficient savings to deal with a short-term loss of income 29% 28% 32% 26%
    I will struggle with a short-term loss of income, but will get by 33% 31% 23% 29%
    I will be in serious financial stress with short-term loss of income 16% 16% 20% 21%
    Base (n) 1,068 1,069 1,086 1,034

     

        Household Employment
      Total Have dependent children Do not have dependent children In paid employment Not in paid employment Retired
    I do not expect the Covid-19 will impact my income 23% 15% 27% 13% 19% 49%
    I have sufficient savings to deal with a short-term loss of income 29% 30% 29% 32% 20% 34%
    I will struggle with a short-term loss of income, but will get by 33% 39% 29% 41% 34% 11%
    I will be in serious financial stress with short-term loss of income 16% 17% 15% 13% 27% 6%
    Base (n) 1,068 362 706 543 254 225
  • Apr, 2020

    , ,

    Financial situation during Covid-19 outbreak

    Q. Which of the following best describes your financial situation during the Covid-19 outbreak?

    NET: Agree 06/04 29/03 22/03
    I do not expect the Covid-19 will impact my income 24% 26% 24%
    I have sufficient savings to deal with a short-term loss of income 28% 32% 26%
    I will struggle with a short-term loss of income, but will get by 31% 23% 29%
    I will be in serious financial stress with short-term loss of income 16% 20% 21%
    Base (n) 1,069 1,086 1,034

     

        Gender Age Group Location
      Total Male Female 18-34 35-54 55+ Capital Non-Capital
    I do not expect the Covid-19 will impact my income 24% 25% 23% 13% 19% 32% 25% 29%
    I have sufficient savings to deal with a short-term loss of income 28% 29% 27% 27% 24% 31% 29% 26%
    I will struggle with a short-term loss of income, but will get by 31% 31% 32% 38% 34% 27% 31% 29%
    I will be in serious financial stress with short-term loss of income 16% 15% 18% 22% 23% 10% 15% 17%
    Base (n) 1,069 523 546 341 342 386 731 338

     

        Household Employment
      Total Have dependent children Do not have dependent children In paid employment Not in paid employment Retired
    I do not expect the Covid-19 will impact my income 24% 21% 26% 12% 27% 46%
    I have sufficient savings to deal with a short-term loss of income 28% 24% 30% 33% 20% 29%
    I will struggle with a short-term loss of income, but will get by 31% 36% 29% 39% 31% 17%
    I will be in serious financial stress with short-term loss of income 16% 19% 15% 16% 22% 8%
    Base (n) 1,069 353 716 533 255 223
  • Mar, 2020

    , ,

    Financial situation during Covid-19 outbreak

    Q. Which of the following best describes your financial situation during the Covid-19 outbreak?

    NET: Agree 29/03 22/03
    I do not expect the Covid-19 will impact my income 26% 24%
    I have sufficient savings to deal with a short-term loss of income 32% 26%
    I will struggle with a short-term loss of income, but will get by 23% 29%
    I will be in serious financial stress with short-term loss of income 20% 21%
    Base (n) 1,086 1,034

     

        Gender Age Group Location
      Total Male Female 18-34 35-54 55+ Capital Non-Capital
    I do not expect the Covid-19 will impact my income 26% 31% 20% 23% 21% 32% 27% 22%
    I have sufficient savings to deal with a short-term loss of income 32% 31% 33% 40% 33% 23% 32% 30%
    I will struggle with a short-term loss of income, but will get by 23% 20% 25% 27% 30% 12% 24% 21%
    I will be in serious financial stress with short-term loss of income 20% 18% 22% 10% 16% 32% 17% 26%
    Base (n) 1,086 539 547 341 362 383 727 359

     

        Household Employment
      Total Have dependent children Do not have dependent children In paid employment Not in paid employment Retired
    I do not expect the Covid-19 will impact my income 26% 22% 27% 27% 17% 32%
    I have sufficient savings to deal with a short-term loss of income 32% 33% 31% 36% 32% 18%
    I will struggle with a short-term loss of income, but will get by 23% 27% 21% 25% 33% 4%
    I will be in serious financial stress with short-term loss of income 20% 18% 21% 11% 18% 46%
    Base (n) 1,086 713 373 567 274 202

     

  • Mar, 2020

    , , ,

    Financial situation during Covid-19 outbreak

    Q. Which of the following best describes your financial situation during the Covid-19 outbreak?

        Gender Age Group Location
      Total Male Female 18-34 35-54 55+ Capital Non-Capital
    I do not expect the Covid-19 will impact my income 24% 22% 26% 16% 18% 37% 22% 28%
    I have sufficient savings to deal with a short-term loss of income 26% 29% 22% 19% 26% 31% 28% 21%
    I will struggle with a short-term loss of income, but will get by 29% 30% 28% 40% 28% 20% 31% 26%
    I will be in serious financial stress with short-term loss of income 21% 18% 24% 25% 28% 11% 19% 25%
    Base (n) 1,034 519 515 342 327 365 703 331
    • One in five people expect to be in serious financial stress due to a loss of income (21%), a further 29% say they will struggle.
    • Women (24%), those aged 18-34 (25%) or 35-54 (28%) and those living in non-capital areas (25%) are most likely to be in serious financial stress.
    • Around half people say they either have sufficient savings to manage a loss of income (26%) or will not suffer a loss of income as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak (24%).
    • Those aged over 55 are more likely to be in a strong financial position, with 37% not expecting their income to be impacted and 31% having sufficient savings to manage a short-term loss of income.
        Household Employment
      Total Have dependent children Do not have dependent children In paid employment Not in paid employment Retired
    I do not expect the Covid-19 will impact my income 24% 18% 28% 12% 31% 41%
    I have sufficient savings to deal with a short-term loss of income 26% 23% 27% 27% 14% 36%
    I will struggle with a short-term loss of income, but will get by 29% 32% 27% 37% 25% 17%
    I will be in serious financial stress with short-term loss of income 21% 26% 18% 23% 30% 7%
    Base (n) 1,034 372 662 519 255 228
    • A quarter of families with dependent children in the household expect to be in serious financial stress with a short-term loss of income.
  • Mar, 2015

    Financial situation

    Q. Which of the following statements best describes your financial situation?

      Total   Work full time Work part time Income less than $600 pw Income $600-$1,000pw Income $1,000-$1,600 pw Income $1,600+ pw   Oct 2014
    I don’t have enough money for basic essentials like housing food and electricity 8% 5% 11% 20% 8% 6% 4% 7%
    I have enough money for basic essentials but I cannot save any money 39% 37% 37% 51% 44% 36% 34% 35%
    I have enough money for basic essentials and I can save a little money 44% 46% 45% 27% 43% 49% 50% 47%
    I have enough money for basic essentials and I can save a lot of money 7% 10% 5% 2% 3% 8% 11% 8%
    Don’t know 2% 2% 2% 2% 1% 1% 4%

    44% say they have enough money for basic essentials and can save a little money and 39% say they have enough money for basic essentials but cannot save any money. Only 7% say they can save a lot of money.

    Only 29% of those earning less than $600 pw say they can save any money – compared to 61% of those earning over $1,600 pw.

    Overall, there has been a slight worsening in financial situations since this question was asked in October – 47% (up 5%) say they cannot save any money and 51% (down 4%) say they can.

  • Oct, 2014

    Financial situation

    Q. Which of the following statements best describes your financial situation?

     

    Total

     

    Work full time

    Work part time

    Income less than $600 pw

    Income $600-$1,000pw

    Income $1,000-$1,600 pw

    Income $1,600+ pw

    I don’t have enough money for basic essentials like housing food and electricity

    7%

    5%

    6%

    27%

    7%

    3%

    2%

    I have enough money for basic essentials but I cannot save any money

    35%

    30%

    35%

    52%

    44%

    37%

    25%

    I have enough money for basic essentials and I can save a little money

    47%

    52%

    49%

    20%

    41%

    51%

    56%

    I have enough money for basic essentials and I can save a lot of money

    8%

    10%

    6%

    1%

    4%

    6%

    15%

    Don’t know

    4%

    3%

    4%

    3%

    3%

    2%

    47% say they have enough money for basic essentials and can save a little money and 35% say they have enough money for basic essentials but cannot save any money. Only 8% say they can save a lot of money.

    Only 21% of those earning less than $600 pw say they can save any money – compared to 71% of those earning over $1,600 pw.

  • May, 2014

    Own financial situation

    Q. How would you rate your own personal financial situation currently?

     

    Total

     

     

    Vote Labor

    Vote Lib/Nat

    Vote Greens

    Vote other

    Total Good

    29%

    24%

    37%

    29%

    21%

    Total Poor

    26%

    32%

    17%

    34%

    37%

    Very good

    4%

    3%

    5%

    4%

    1%

    Good

    25%

    21%

    32%

    25%

    20%

    Fair

    42%

    41%

    45%

    35%

    41%

    Poor

    17%

    18%

    12%

    27%

    26%

    Very poor

    9%

    14%

    5%

    7%

    11%

    I’d rather not say

    2%

    3%

    1%

    1%

    1%

    Just 29% of Australians would rate their own current financial situation as ‘good’. 26% would rate it as poor, with the largest proportion rating their current financial situation as ‘fair’ (45%).

    Lib/Nat voters (37%) were more likely to rate their current financial situation as good. Labor (24%) and Other (21%) voters were less likely.

    Although males and females differed little in the percentage who rated their current financial situation as ‘good’ (29% each), females (29%) were more likely than males (22%) to rate their financial situation as ‘poor’. Males (47%) were more likely than females (38%) to rate their situation as ‘fair’.

    Those in QLD (37%) were more likely to rate their situation as ‘good’. Those in NSW (27%) and VIC (26%) were less likely.

Error: