Nearly 95% of Australian families have had to cut their spending on essentials such as food and heating over winter, as the cost of living skyrockets.
A new survey of 1000 households across Australia, conducted by Australian Parents for Climate Action, found that in order to manage costs, many families have cut back on basics like food and travel and almost 10% said they were accumulating debt to manage rising energy bills.
Anxiety and stress was also on the rise due to additional financial pressures, and lower income families were more likely to have made significant changes to manage rising living costs, particularly reducing their use of electricity, heating and petrol, as well as skipping bills or paying them late.
The survey also found that the vast majority of families (95%) – renters and homeowners – wanted greater government investment and support in the form of rebates to make energy efficient solutions like solar and electric vehicles more accessible.
Australian Parents for Climate Action CEO Nic Seton said: "Households across Australia are experiencing a cost of living crisis, with families hit by increasing prices for food, electricity, gas, housing and petrol.
"From our survey, we heard that many families are experiencing anxiety and stress as they try to make ends meet, with many making really difficult decisions about how to balance their budgets and provide for their kids.
"What we really need to see is a long-term move towards renewable energy in the grid. At the same time we need to support households now by making it easier for them to access affordable and efficient energy, through upgrading appliances and making sure that they can switch over to electric transport in an affordable way as well."
Key findings of the report included:
44% of families had reduced spending on food
41% of families had reduced their use of heaters
Victorian families are experiencing tougher cost of living pressures as a result of their legacy gas network
40% of families were planning to spend less on holidays
35% of families had reduced their electricity use at home, which was more likely for Queensland families (44.3%) where electricity takes a greater proportion of energy bills.
