Financial stress

Information regarding financial stress was obtained from men and women aged 18 years and over in the 2021-22 PSS.

The financial stress topic includes measures which could be used to identify households that were constrained in their activities because of a shortage of money or access to sufficient financial resources. The data items are used to examine the ability of households to maintain adequate cash flow to meet financial commitments and to raise emergency money.

There were two questions asked in this topic.

The first question asked respondents whether they or other members of the household could raise $2,000 within a week for something important.

The definition of ‘something important’ was left open to the respondent’s interpretation, with the objective being to determine whether people thought their household had access to, or the ability to acquire, these resources within a week. An example might be to pay for emergency medical care or unexpected bills, while the money could be obtained from any source, such as drawing on savings, getting a loan from family or friends or a financial institution.

The second question in this topic asked respondents if they or other members of the household had any of the following happen as a result of being short on money in the last 12 months:

• could not pay electricity, gas or telephone bills on time
• could not pay mortgage or rent payments on time
• could not pay for car registration or insurance on time
• could not make minimum payment on credit card
• pawned or sold something because they needed cash
• went without meals
• were unable to heat or cool their home
• sought financial assistance from friends or family
• sought assistance from welfare or community organisations.

The data items and related output categories for this topic are contained within the Household level tab in the data item list available under Downloads.

Data for this topic has been collected to examine the relationship between financial stress and experiences of violence.

Data items from this topic should not be used on their own to produce population estimates of financial stress.

Points to be considered when using and interpreting data for this topic include the following:

• Responses were based on the current financial situation of the household at the time of interview, and may not be reflective of the household’s financial situation at the time violence was experienced. It is recommended that these data items are used only when examining recent experiences of violence (i.e. in the previous 12- or 24- months), as household characteristics are more likely to have changed over longer timeframes.
• Where there was more than one person aged 15 years and over in the household, the financial stress questions related to the situation of the household as a whole (i.e. the questions referred to all members of the household). Responses therefore may not reflect the individual circumstances of the respondent.
• Details about household financial stress were collected via the respondent. Therefore, the information was based on the knowledge the respondent had of the financial situation of other members of the household.

Financial stress data from the 2021-22 PSS is comparable with all previous PSS cycles.

There was a minor wording change introduced in 2016 to one cash flow category. ‘Unable to heat your home’ was changed to ‘Unable to heat or cool your home.’