Housing affordability and financial stress: National Research Venture 3 : housing affordability for lower income Australians
Thoughts
Say that ‘one potential implication is that households who pay high proportions of their household incomes to meet their housing needs are less likely to have the financial resources needed to enable them to participate fully in the society in which they live. Such households can be defined as being in financial stress.’
Connected to: @bray2001
Annotations
yates2007 - p. 11
ata on deprivation (or social activity) and financial stress have been used by the ABS to supplement its headline indicator of economic hardship based on changes in (real equivalised disposable) household income
yates2007 - p. 11
Along with most commentators who advocate the use of multidimensional indicators, the ABS concludes “there is no standard way to measure the total resources available to a household, nor to measure the financial needs of a household [but argue] it is useful to examine the indicators of the economic situation of households which can more directly identify households at risk of or actually falling below minimum acceptable living standards”
yates2007 - p. 11
The HES collected data on 6 specific deprivation indicators which households indicated they were unable to afford. These included: Æ Week’s holiday away from home at least once a year Æ Night out once a fortnight Æ Special meal once a week Æ New clothes (buy second hand clothes most of the time) Æ Leisure or hobby activities Æ Family/friends for a meal once a month
yates2007 - p. 12
Households who report missing out on a range of goods or activities because they cannot afford them are regarded as being deprived of expenditures seen to reflect socially accepted norms about the basics of life.
yates2007 - p. 12
These deprivation indicators in the HES are supplemented by 7 financial stress questions which relate to cash flow problems attributable to a shortage of money in the past year. These are: Æ Could not pay gas/electricity/telephone bill on time Æ Sought financial help from friends/family Æ Could not pay registration/insurance on time Æ Pawned or sold something Æ Went without meals Æ Sought assistance from welfare/community organisations Æ Unable to heat home