Skyrocketing living costs are making Christmas less merry for millions of Australians in New South Wales (NSW), as four in 10 individuals report a reduced food spend during the holiday season.
A new poll commissioned by Union NSW, covering 1,024 people in the state, revealed that 42 percent of the respondents would spend less on food for this Christmas lunch due to high prices, while another 56 percent said they would cut back on gifts.
Around 53 percent believed they were in a worse financial position compared to a year ago, while 49 percent of respondents with a household income above $150,000 (US$102,000) said they were impacted by the living cost crisis.
Rising interest rates in recent months have seen families struggle to cope with increased monthly mortgage repayments.
Meanwhile, seven in 10 respondents stated that their incomes failed to keep up with the pace of price growth.
Eight out of 10 did not expect any improvement in economic conditions in 2024, and nearly four in 10 (37 percent) predicted a worse outlook for next year.
The majority of those surveyed (55 percent) cited the federal government as the main cause of the current cost of living crunch, followed by the Reserve Bank of Australia (50 percent), big corporations (47 percent), and the NSW government (36 percent).
Unions NSW secretary Mark Morey blamed corporations and the Reserve Bank for spiralling costs.
“While corporate Australia has padded its profits, 13 interest rate rises in 18 months have pushed ordinary workers back against the wall to make ends meet,” he said in a statement on Sunday.
“Not even people on moderate incomes are safe from cascading price pain expected to linger well into 2024.”
Meanwhile, Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor said Australians’ incomes had gone backward under the Labor government.
Australians Change Shopping Habits During Christmas Season
New insight from the National Australia Bank indicated that 60 percent of Australians were likely to change their spending habits to cope with rising costs.The bank said consumers were likely to make use of loyalty programs to earn rewards points, trade down on brands or products, or take advantage of big sales and discounts.
“With living costs remaining high, Australians have become laser-focused on seeking out bargains and discounts,” NAB Personal Banking executive Kylie Young said.
“Black Friday and Cyber Monday are great examples of budgeting in action and, even though Australians spent $1.6 billion extra during these sales this year, it shows they planned ahead and took advantage of bargains.”
NAB predicted its customers would spend around $3.33 billion during the peak shopping period between Dec. 22 and 23.
