The Salvation Army's Money Care program released new data in line with Anti-Poverty week focus that reveals vulnerable Australians are drowning in debt and have less income to manage the ongoing nature of their debt.
Several changing factors over the last ten years are key to the problems people now face. Rising Housing affordability and the increased cost of living puts more pressure on the incomes of the new casual workforce that have irregular or limited hours. This effectively widens the gap between income verses expenditure of the average family budget. Almost 37% of income is now used for rent and individual debt is at a ratio of 255% ($2.55 of debt for every dollar earned).
Local Financial Councillors say that the range of people seeking financial assistance is widening. There are many families who have never been in real financial difficulty and consequently have never had a strict budget plan believing their income vs expenditure manageable. Realising all too late that their accumulated debt and escalating expenses such as power and services rising well beyond their income capacity to repay their debt.
Tony Devlin of the Salvation Army's Money Care program announced the report at the start of Anti-poverty the week. "Now more than ever we are seeing people from all walks of life seeking our help. The cross section of people is growing, and the amount of debt each person has is very high. Over the last ten years we have seen major changes to the employment landscape in conjunction with increases to the cost of living. This combination of factors is making it harder for many people to keep their heads above water".
The Salvation Army is also encouraging the public to connect with its unique financial literacy education program, “You’re the Boss”. The app is free and provides financial tips, information and other resources to help you stay on top of your money. To contact your nearest Moneycare service please visit https://salvos.org.au/moneycare or call 1800 007 007