Relieving Covid-Related Financial Strain on Australian Households

The Covid-19 pandemic significantly disrupted the world we knew. While many of the issues we’re currently seeing existed pre-pandemic, the long-term strain as Covid-19 ravaged the globe brought many of these issues into starker focus. Although some disruptions have actually been good, especially in terms of streamlining technological developments and adoption and creating greater acceptance of a work-from-home employment model, the majority have not.

Some of the most notable negative impacts include increased financial pressure due to job losses or income reductions, which have placed greater burdens on both household and national economies, as well as increased mental and physical illness, which holds long-term societal and economic repercussions.

As an immediate response to the pandemic, many Australian households opted to reduce expenditure, especially on non-essential items. However, the continued financial strain brought about by the pandemic also led many to take advantage of states’ rental freezes and opt to cut back even on essential items like groceries and utilities.

As the country now slowly looks to rebuild while continuing to manage Covid cases, many families are still having to maintain strict budgets and find creative ways of dealing with the financial losses experienced during the peak of the pandemic. Some common solutions have been to take on additional employment where possible, begin a side hustle, or downscale to a cheaper neighborhood. Others are taking advantage of a  budgeting app in Australia that is specifically designed to assist with household financial management within the particular Australian context.

It will take a long time before the true extent of Covid’s damage on global and local economies, as well as on broader society, will be fully comprehended. And it will take even longer for countries, households, and individuals to make up lost financial ground. In the interim, Australians would benefit from practicing frugality.