Financial lives in uncertain times

Understanding patterns of financial wellbeing is a key to protecting Australians against financial distress in times of crisis.

Ensuring Australians are able to build financial resilience can help to protect all of us against economic shocks. These include not just extraordinary events such as the bushfires of summer and the global COVID-19 pandemic but also personal shocks such as job loss, illness, car repairs and unexpected bills.

Using ANZ’s Financial Wellbeing Indicator, this project explored patterns of financial wellbeing across vulnerable groups. This enables us to understand how financial wellbeing interacts with the long-term structural drivers of inequality and insecurity. This is important as individual exposure to risk has increased as work has become less secure and the social safety net has been weakened.

In the shadow of a crisis like COVID-19, discovering the barriers to increased financial resilience is vital. Taking steps to overcome them will ensure we really are all in this together.

Publications

Emily Porter, Dina Bowman and Matthew Curry 2020, All in it together? Financial wellbeing before COVID-19

Emily Porter and Dina Bowman 2020,  Shocks and safety nets: financial wellbeing during the COVID-19 crisis

Emily Porter and Dina Bowman 2021  A brief reprieve? Financial wellbeing after the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns

Emily Porter and Dina Bowman 2021  Losing traction: lessons in financial wellbeing from the COVID crisis

The research was made possible by the generous support of ANZ through the ANZ Tony Nicholson Fellowship and the provision under licence of Roy Morgan Single Source Survey data.

Contact Emily Porter or Dina Bowman