For 16 years, in partnership with Australian Unity, a team at Deakin University have researched Australian quality of life. This has resulted in the most comprehensive measure of wellbeing in Australia, the Australian Unity Wellbeing Index.

This year the focus of the survey was on financial wellbeing. Here are some of the key findings.

  • An interesting result of this year’s survey was the perception of growing intergenerational financial security. Two in every three Australians consider themselves financially better off than their parents were at the same age, while 70% of parents believe their children will end up at least as well off as them, if not better.
  • Despite the fact that Australians are facing issues of housing affordability, rising utility costs, future energy supply, low wages growth and an unstable job market, the overall tone of survey participants’ financial wellbeing is broadly optimistic. Most people have a positive view of their own and children’s future financial position.
  • In spite of the everyday economic pressures Australians face, most people rated their financial situation as somewhat good (61.9%) and a substantial proportion rated it as very good (23.4%). Only one in four Australians believe they have gone backwards in the last 5 years and also expect their own financial situation to be worse in five years’ time.
  • Most participants of the survey reported no difficulty affording living expenses, with the exception of those living on income of less than $30,000 per annum who had significantly higher difficulty affording food, clothes, utilities and transport than most other groups.
  • Unsurprisingly, being able to afford basic household expenses was related to wellbeing. Those people who could afford household expenses with no difficulty had higher personal wellbeing levels; while those who had some or great difficulty affording those items had lower than normal levels of wellbeing.
  • Overall personal and national wellbeing levels this year are slightly lower than last year but for most demographic groups, the survey of 2,000 adults revealed an average personal wellbeing index (PWI) of 75.5 out of 100 which is in the normal range and indicates that Australians are fairly positive about their lives in total.
  • Another key finding of the survey is the correlation between age and wellbeing. The latest survey confirms that young adults and those aged over 66 are the happiest Australians, with a dampening in wellbeing occurring in the 35 to 55 year old age bracket. While the survey doesn’t examine the reasons behind the numbers, it is probable to assume that this middle age bracket has additional life pressure that the other age brackets don’t. For example, this could be pressures around career advancement, scaling up in housing and also providing for others whether that be children or elderly family members.
  • The latest Australian Unity Wellbeing Index results highlight the three core elements of personal wellbeing are financial security, a strong relationship and a sense of purpose in life.  This has been dubbed the “golden triangle of wellbeing”.

References:

1. Australian Unity Wellbeing Index : https://www.australianunity.com.au/media-centre/wellbeing
2. Latest Wellbeing survey: Australian Centre on Quality of Life

Disclaimer: This article is not legal or personal financial advice and should not be relied on as such. Any advice in this document is general advice only and does not take into account the objectives, financial situation or needs of any particular person. You should obtain financial advice relevant to your circumstances before making investment decisions. Where a particular financial product is mentioned you should consider the Product Disclosure Statement before making any decisions in relation to the product. Whilst every reasonable care has been taken in distributing this article, Australian Unity Personal Financial Services Ltd does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information contained within it. Any views expressed are those of the author(s) and do not represent the views of Australian Unity Personal Financial Services Ltd. Australian Unity Personal Financial Services Ltd does not guarantee any particular outcome or future performance. Tacation Information in this document should not be relied upon without seeking specialist advice from a tax professional. Australian Unity Personal Financial Services Ltd ABN 26 098 725 145, AFSL & Australian Credit Licence No. 234459, 114 Albert Road, South Melbourne, VIC 3205. This document produced in February 2018. © Copyright 2018