The cost of living in Australia is expensive and will be a huge factor in the election. What does Labor and the Government doing to attract voters?

A Sydney mum paying nearly two-thirds of her income on rent says wages and pension payments “need to increase” to keep up with rising cost-of-living.

Natalie Jasco, a 43-year-old single mum with a six-year-old living in Cremorne in Sydney’s north, is on a parenting pension and juggles casual secretarial work in between studying for a business diploma.

Ms Jasco pays $320 a week in rent and receives $1100 from the pension. She’s also paying $54 a week off a personal loan she took out to cover the cost of her daughter’s school supplies.

After food, school fees and electricity, she has no money left for her savings.

“Rent, bills, food, it all goes up every year but nothing else does,” she said. “I’ve got no savings at all and I’m trying to help out my parents. They can’t afford to go into a nursing home.”

It comes after the Fair Work Commission this week raised the minimum wage by $21.60 per week. Many described the 3 per cent increase, down from last year’s 3.5 per cent increase, as “not enough”.

Australian unions had been pushing for a 6 per cent increase, which would have equated to an extra $43 per week rise, while business groups wanted a lower increase of up to 2 per cent, or $14.40 per week.

“Wages need to increase in line with cost of living, not only from the private sector but the pension needs to be raised as well,” Ms Jasco said. “There are so many people I know that are struggling. But I don’t think anything’s going to change with this government.”

Ms Jasco said the cost of electricity was a major concern as it was starting to cut into her grocery budget. “Definitely no luxury items, if there is it’s chocolate for my daughter,” she said.

“Even she understands as a six-year-old that money doesn’t go very far. Thankfully she’s accepting of that. I do surveys online at night to get vouchers for Coles and Woolies, things like that. That’s a massive help for me. I always get the specials, otherwise it’s very hard to live.”

Her big concern at the moment is that her pension payments will reduce when her daughter turns eight, meaning she won’t be able to afford living where she is now, close to her parents.

“That’s why I’m studying, to get extra certifications so I can get a full-time job,” she said.

Ms Jasco is among the nearly nine in 10 Australians under the age of 55 who say they’re concerned by rising cost of living, according to a study commissioned by Real Insurance.

The survey of nearly 5000 people, conducted by CoreData in April 2019, asked respondents to rate how “concerned” they were about family, financial, work, education, health, technology, climate change and environmental issues.

The study found rising energy and fuel prices, slow wage growth, job insecurity, economic instability and the cost of healthcare were the key financial-related concerns.

Many respondents said long-term savings goals such as owning a home, planning a family, investing in a university education or building a nest egg for retirement seemed increasingly out of reach.

Despite the recent run-off in house prices, more than half felt they could not enter the property market in its current state.

“What we’ve found from the index is the concern many have in relation to managing their day to day living costs in the face of constant increases which is impacting people’s ability to adequately prepare for the future,” Real Insurance spokesman Travis Hall said in a statement.

“This is a real risk for families across the nation and could have a significant economic impact, particularly as Aussies plan for longer-term goals including starting a family or paying for a degree.”

Curtin University economist Dr Yashar Tarverdi said the findings demonstrated “how economics could have a multidimensional effect on households and could ultimately alter how they feel about their future”.

INDEX HIGHLIGHTS ‘REAL CONCERNS’

No concern (0) to very strong concern (100):

• Overall concerns (44.6)

• Financial concerns (51.4)

• Climate change and environment (49.9)

• Work and education (46.8)

• Health concerns (42.3)

• Technology concerns (40.6)

• Family concerns (36.3)

FINANCIAL CONCERNS BY STATE

Highest:

• Wide Bay (61.0)

• Sydney — Blacktown (58.9)

• Adelaide — South (57.6)

• Moreton Bay — North (56.5)

• Darling Downs — Maranoa (54.8)

• Gold Coast (54.8)

Lowest:

• Perth — Inner City (45.4)

• Perth — South West (46.1)

• Sydney — City and Inner South (46.6)

• Brisbane Inner City (47.9)

• Melbourne — North East (48.1)

Source: Real Insurance ‘Real Concerns Index 2019’