High costs bringing us down

MORE than half of Australian households believe they have fallen behind the cost of living during the past two years, at a time when wages growth is at its lowest in at least two decades.

Two in five respondents to the weekly Essential Research poll, released yesterday, said while they have enough for basic essentials they can’t save any money.

Only a fraction more of the 1032 people surveyed said they could save a little money after paying for essentials, and just 19 per cent of those earning over $2000 each week said they could save a lot of money.

Well over half said they were paying a lot more for their electricity and gas, followed by insurance (31 per cent), medical and dental (30 per cent) and fresh food.

Little wonder consumers say they are struggling to remain positive. The weekly ANZ-Roy Morgan confidence index fell by a further 1.8 per cent.

ANZ head of Australian economics David Plank said increased tensions surrounding North Korea may be having an impact on sentiment.

“More broadly, we think it will be difficult for consumer confidence to sustain any material rise until we see a lift in wage growth,” he said. The wage price index for the June quarter is released today. Economists expect wages grew by 0.5 per cent in the quarter, which would keep the annual rate at 1.9 per cent and at its lowest level in at least 20 years.