Financial Stress and its Impact on the Individual, Family and the Community
As part of our new strategic direction, Wesley Mission is seeking to address societal concerns by examining the big picture — to expand our focus from single-issue problems to finding links to a wide range of current issues. Our current focus is family and a key area that we have looked at is the impact of financial stress on family and relationships.
Following a study we conducted with a team of social researchers from Urbis Keys Young, this report reveals how people can ultimately find themselves in a vicious cycle as they struggle to cope with money worries alongside significant life changes such as marital breakdown, substance abuse and violence.
Our survey of more than 400 Sydney residents, conducted shortly after the August 2006 rise in mortgage interest rates, reveals that:
- One in three households in the Sydney metropolitan area was anxious about their ability to meet expenses for the coming year
- Four in ten households in the Sydney metropolitan area would be unable to draw on their savings or redraw on their mortgage if faced with an unexpected one off expense of $2000
- Almost 15 per cent of households would find it difficult or totally impossible to meet a regular increase of $40 per week in household expenses such as rent or mortgage increases.
Download a full copy of Financial Stress and its Impact on the Individual, Family and the Community in PDF format.
