Typical Australian households' real incomes have stagnated since 2009. At the time, the median household disposable income was $79, 160, but by 2016, that figure had risen only marginally to $7, 924. 4.
More and more Australians are renting, and many are facing growing financial pressure as childcare and utility costs soar.
In spite of this, dependence on welfare has declined and women have become more educated, but they still lag far behind men in terms of financial knowledge.
As women were busy working and running a family, but men who lost full-time jobs increased, forcing them to invest more in their families and start doing more housework.
Concerns about rising spending have led to "quite high" financial pressure, according to Australia's housing, income and labour dynamics (HILDA) report.
The report found that in 2002 and 2003, the median weekly spending by two-parent families on childcare for non-school children rose from 71 yuan to 154 yuan in 2015 and 2016.
Over the same period, the median expenditure for single-parent families climbed from 44 yuan to 102 yuan.
Utility costs also hit hard, with household electricity spending climbing from 1727 yuan in 2006-08 to 2118 yuan in 2015-16.
From 2001 to 2009, wage growth was strong-average wages rose 2447 yuan a year or 19573 yuan a year during the period.
But since then, wage growth has slowed sharply.
Men understand financial knowledge better than women.
In the study, Australians were asked five financial questions, 49. 9 percent of men answered correctly, compared with 35. 4 percent of women.
Nevertheless, Australians are getting more educated-men with college degrees rose from 22.6% in 2001 to 31.1% in 2016 among people aged 25 to 64.
Women rose from 22.6% to 35.7% over the same period.
From 2009 to 2016, the average household income grew by only 2168 yuan, or 2.4%.
There seems to be no way out for economically stressed families.
About 54% of those under economic pressure in one year will still face economic pressure the following year. The most common indicators of financial stress include failure to pay electricity bills, petrol or telephone bills on time, or inability to pay rent or monthly mortgage payments.
Some people even take extreme measures to save cash. This includes pawnering their belongings, not eating, heating, or asking for money from family or friends.
Single-parent families are one of the first ethnic groups to bear the brunt.
Professor Wilkins, author of the report, said the report highlighted the fact that more people are under financial pressure to buy a home. "Real income has not increased, but it has not shrunk," he said. "House prices have been very high, and up until recently there has been a strong increase, which has led to an increase in rental numbers."
One of the reasons for household income stagnation is the prevalence of part-time jobs and underemployment. The change was particularly pronounced for men aged 18 to 64, with part-time employment rising from just over 10 percent to about 14 percent, while full-time employment fell to 67 percent from 73.3 percent in 2008.
Accordingly, men spent more time doing housework-13.3 hours a week in 2016, compared with 12.4 hours in 2002.
