Australians more pessimistic about their financial future, as satisfaction with standard of living continues to decline
While the proportion of Australians who are satisfied with their standard of living still outweighs those who are not.
The proportion of Australians satisfied with their standard of living continues to decline as cost-of-living pressures remain consistently high, the latest wave of the Ipsos Financial Circumstances Report has found.
This finding is consistent with the Ipsos Issues Monitor[1], which shows that cost of living is the most significant issue facing the nation, and has been rated in the Monitor as the most significant every month for the past two and a half years.
Ipsos surveyed 1,000 people between 8th – 13th August 2024. This year’s results are compared to March 2022 and March 2021, noting that the March 2021 survey occurred after the COVID lockdowns, and household savings had increased, partly due to a raft of Government stimulus packages to lessen the economic impact of the lockdowns, and partly due to changed spending habits during lockdowns and COVID restrictions on businesses.
Key findings
- While Australians’ satisfaction with their standard of living remains positive, significant declines have occurred over the past three waves of research:
- In August 2024, 41% of Australians were satisfied and 30% dissatisfied, giving a net satisfaction score of 11%.
- In March 2022, 56% of Australians were satisfied and 22% dissatisfied, giving a net satisfaction score of 34%.
- In March 2021, 66% of Australians were satisfied and 14% dissatisfied, giving a net satisfaction score of 52%.
- Similar to the March 2022 research wave, gender continues to play a role in satisfaction levels, with Australian men showing higher net satisfaction rating than Australian women.
- In August 2024, 44% of Australian men were satisfied and 26% dissatisfied, giving a net satisfaction score of 18%.
- In August 2024, 38% of Australian women were satisfied and 34% dissatisfied, giving a net satisfaction score of 4%.
- While the gap between men and women remains wide, it has narrowed slightly since 2022, with a 14%-point gap in August 2024, compared to an 18%-point gap in March 2022.
- Similarly, age impacts levels of satisfaction around current standard of living.
- Baby Boomers (people aged 60+) are currently experiencing the highest satisfaction levels, with 49% reporting being satisfied, and 25% unsatisfied, giving a net satisfaction score of 24%.
- Conversely, Gen X (people aged 45-59) are currently experiencing the lowest satisfaction levels, with 35% reporting being satisfied, and 37% unsatisfied, giving them a net satisfaction score of -2%.
- For Gen Z (people aged 18-27), 37% were satisfied and 28% dissatisfied, giving a net satisfaction score of 9%.
- For Millennials (people aged 28-44), 40% were satisfied and 32% dissatisfied, giving a net satisfaction score of 8%.
- Along with these declines in satisfaction with standard of living, more Australians think their personal financial circumstances will continue to decline over the next 12 months.
- 40% of Australians expect their personal financial circumstances to decline over the next year, while 22% think they will improve, giving a net negative outlook of -18%, which is even more negative than the -7% in March 2022 and a stark contrast from the +12% net positive outlook in March 2021.
- The current net negative outlook is even lower than in July 2020 (-11%), when large scale COVID-19 restrictions were still in place and there was far greater uncertainty associated with COVID-19.
- While Boomers have the highest satisfaction with their current standard of living, their outlook for the future is considerably more pessimistic, with 44% believing their satisfaction levels will decline in the next 12 months, and 13% believing it will improve, giving them a net negative outlook of -31%
- A similarly pessimistic outlook is noted among Gen X, with 47% believing their satisfaction levels will decline in the next 12 months, and 17% believing it will improve, giving them a net negative outlook of -30%
- Gen Z and Millennials are somewhat more optimistic, although both do have net negative outlooks; Gen Z showing a -1% net negative outlook and Millennials showing a -2% net negative outlook
- Interestingly, despite greater positivity among men regarding their current circumstances, both men and women currently have a similar net negative outlook, men (-16%) versus women (-19%).
- Among those who think their personal financial circumstances will get worse, inflationary pressures associated with increased cost of living are the most cited reason for this pessimism.
In line with the declining satisfaction with standard of living and the pessimism around people’s financial future, there was an increase in the proportion of people reporting that they are late at least some of the time, in meeting relevant financial obligations.
- On average, across all relevant financial commitments, 30% of Australians surveyed in August 2024 claimed they are late making payments at least some of the time, which is up significantly from March 2022 (24%).
- The most significant increase in late payments was observed for personal loans, with 45% reporting being late at least some of the time in August 2024 compared to 35% in March 2022, followed by credit cards, with 34% reporting being late at least some of the time in August 2024 compared to 25% in March 2022.
- However, the proportion of people who pay their mortgage or rent late at least some of the time, has remained steady (29% in August 24 compared to 28% in March 2022). Of all financial payments measured, this is the only one not to show a significant decline.
Ipsos Public Affairs Director, Ben Brown, said: “This trend of declining satisfaction and increasing pessimism has intensified since our last report in March 2022, and highlight the impact the cost of living crisis is having on Australians. The large disparity in current levels of satisfaction with standards of living between Gen X and Boomers highlights the impact that elevated interest rates have had, with a higher proportion of Gen X having taken on relatively high mortgages while interest rates were at an all-time low. On the other hand, Boomers are more likely to have substantially paid down, or even paid off, their mortgages and built-up savings, and thus, are more likely to be beneficiaries of higher interest rates.
“While the proportion of Australians who are satisfied with their standard of living still outweighs those who are not, the fact that the proportion of Australians who feel things are going to get worse over the next 12 months outnumber those who feel it will get better, indicates most Australians believe this will still be a hot topic, when the next Federal Election is held.
“If that is the case, cost of living will be one of the key issues Australians consider in the next Federal Election. Whichever party can effectively demonstrate their ability to manage this, may go a long way towards forming government.“
About the Study
These are findings from an online survey conducted between 8th – 13th August 2024. The sample each wave consists of 1,000 individuals in Australia aged 18+. The data is weighted to ensure sample composition best reflects the demographic profile of the Australian adult population according to 2021 census data. Sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error. The precision of the online surveys conducted is measured using a Bayesian Credibility Interval. Here, the poll has a credibility interval of +/-3.5 percentage points[2]. Where results do not sum to 100, this may be due to computer rounding, multiple responses or the exclusion of don’t knows or not stated responses. This study did not have any external sponsors or partners. It was initiated and run by Ipsos, because we are curious about the world we live in and how citizens around the globe think and feel about their world.
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