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The Wesley Report Making Ends Meet: Financial Stress Is Not Just About Money Acknowledgements

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The Wesley Report Making Ends Meet: Financial Stress Is Not Just About Money Acknowledgements Number 8 October8 2010 The Wesley Report Making ends meet: Financial stress is not just about money Acknowledgements Wesley Mission Trevor Dalziell, Editor Graeme Cole, Public Affairs Manager Anna Maskiell, Project Manager David Beattie, Senior Designer Gavin Hanbridge, Communications Officer Wesley Mission would also like to acknowledge the contribution of our financial counsellors to this report, as well as input from staff in mental health and counselling, supported accommodation and family and community services. Special thanks to Andrew Mitchell, Jeff Lucas, David Allen and Richard Brading. The research was carried out by Catalyst Research and Dr Kristen Murray wrote the policy chapter. Wesley Mission would also like to thank the following organisations for their input and ideas: Department of FaHCSIA, Communities Section University of New South Wales, City Futures Research Centre University of Western Sydney, Urban Research Centre University of New South Wales, The Centre for Social Impact Swinburne University, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute Centre for Independent Studies, Social Foundation Program And finally, a very special thank you to Bronwyn Rushton and her family, and to Neil and Jodi, for sharing their personal experiences in this report. Media enquiries about this report should be directed to the Public Affairs Manager, Wesley Mission (02) 9263 5350. Contents Foreword ................................................................................................................................................................ 04 Executive summary ............................................................................................................................................06 Compiling this report ......................................................................................................................................... 08 Chapter 1: Financial stress is biting hard ...................................................................................................10 Story: Runaway debt—it can happen to anyone ..........................................................................20 Chapter 2: People are anxious about the future ...................................................................................... 22 Chapter 3: Hurting more than the hip pocket ........................................................................................... 28 Report: At the coalface ............................................................................................................................39 Chapter 4: The state of household finances in NSW .............................................................................40 Chapter 5: Seeking help for financial stress .............................................................................................. 52 Story: Down, but definitely not out: Bronwyn’s experience .................................................... 61 Chapter 6: Community attitudes to money ............................................................................................... 64 Story: When debt becomes unmanageable: Neil and Jodi’s experience .........................69 Chapter 7: Implications for policy ................................................................................................................. 72 Appendices ........................................................................................................................................................... 82 Help make ends meet .................................................................................................................................... 100 www.wesleymission.org.au/makingendsmeet Making ends meet: Financial stress is not just about money 3 Foreword With the global economic situation far from stable, the release of Wesley Mission’s latest research report is timely. The past two years have seen global economic turmoil on a scale not witnessed since the Depression of the 1930s. While Australia has escaped the full impact of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) at the macro level, many households have nevertheless been affected and, according to this report, are likely to keep feeling the pain for some time, particularly those surviving on low incomes. Making ends meet: Financial stress is not just about There is an urgent need to provide more financial money paints a worrying picture of the state of counselling services1 in NSW and to counter the household finances in NSW and the anxiety this sense of reluctance or even shame that many people is causing. feel about using such services. On a broader level, our society needs to find innovative ways to instill a More than a third of households (850,000) are affected culture of saving and common sense around money by financial stress. In addition, more than half the management. Ideally, we should be doing this from a population is now anxious about the future and one very early age. in six are “very worried” about their financial future, double the figure recorded in our 2006 Wesley Report. It is apparent that our “live now, pay later” culture is damaging families and individuals. Our meaning and Wesley Mission has long seen the need to tackle the identity should never be equated with what we can issue of financial stress in the community, and this buy. We need a cultural shift and reassessment of our is our third report on the problem since 2006. We priorities. see these reports as opportunities to begin a public discussion to highlight the extent of the problem and I would like to thank all those who participated in the to seek tangible, lasting solutions. policy forum which helped define a range of actions that can flow from Making ends meet: Financial stress Like all social issues, financial stress has ramifications is not just about money. that go far beyond the core problem of a lack of dollars and cents. These include recommendations in the areas of financial literacy, housing, consumer credit and health. When a sudden illness, job loss or relationship breakdown tips an individual or family into debt, other There are already many positive initiatives underway, problems can rapidly follow: homelessness, physical particularly in the area of consumer credit, but much and mental illness and dangerous coping behaviours. more needs to be done and this requires imagination The social and economic cost to individuals and the and will. We hope this report can provide something community can be enormous. of both. As this report shows, increasing numbers of people in NSW, particularly single parents, are struggling to make ends meet. Many are still struggling to recover from the job losses or reduced working hours caused by the GFC. Rising rents and mortgage costs add to the problem as does the relentless increase in utility costs. Rev Dr Keith V Garner The media is regularly reporting the difficulties people Superintendent/CEO face meeting steep increases in electricity charges. Wesley Mission According to this Wesley Report, more than seven in 10 households are making sacrifices to cover the 20 per cent electricity rate increases and one in 10 are not able to cover this necessary cost. 1 Financial counsellors work with people in financial crisis to help resolve financial problems and increase their ability to manage financial situations in the future. www.wesleymission.org.au/makingendsmeet Making ends meet: Financial stress is not just about money 5 Executive summary More than a third of people in NSW are affected by financial stress, representing 850,000 households. In addition, more than half the population is now anxious about the future and one in six households is ‘very worried’ about its financial future, double the figure recorded in 2006. Wesley Mission’s Financial Counselling Service in Key findings Sydney and Newcastle sees hundreds of people a • Financial stress more acute year—but this is just the tip of the iceberg. More than a third of households (850,000) report being This service is constrained by the financial ability to financially stressed. Of these, half struggle to pay employ and train additional counsellors. Our waiting utilities, a quarter have pawned items and a fifth have lists and those of other organisations offering financial gone without meals. Where six in 10 would have been counselling continue to grow. able to cover a $2,000 emergency expense in 2006, In the last 18 months the Global Financial Crisis only four in 10 can now do so. A quarter of households (GFC) undoubtedly increased financial strain on the have seen a decrease in income over the past two community, despite general agreement that Australia years and one in six has experienced a significant drop. escaped the worst of the global downturn. • Fears for the future Making ends meet: Financial stress is not just about More than half the people in NSW now report feeling money is a timely reminder that the GFC’s impact is anxious about their ability to meet future financial still very real in NSW for individuals and families. obligations, an increase of 34 per cent on 2006. Many Other factors, such as rising utility costs and people’s of these are experiencing financial stress for the first often contradictory attitudes to money are adding to time. More than 320,000 households—one in six— the problem. report feeling “very worried” about their financial future, Financial stress—like most social problems—has a a figure which has doubled in four years. domino effect. Once a family or individual is in
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