Australian living standards have fallen for the first time in a generation.
A new study by Australian National University (ANU) for Australian News Corp (News Corp Australia) shows that the cost of living has increased 1.4 percent over income in the past year and 3.8 percent since 2013. This is a trend not seen since the 1980s.
The decline in living standards is largely due to wage growth at its weakest level in history.
ANU's associate professor, Ben? Phillips (Ben Phillips) is an expert on cost-of-living dynamics in Australia. Before the global financial crisis, he said, wages were usually twice as high as they are now.
"in terms of living standards, what has changed is that wages are no longer growing by 3 or 4 percent, but by 1 or 2 percent," Phillips said. "it's different now."
Health-related costs have become the top source of budgetary pressure for most households in Australia, according to ANU's analysis.
Medical and hospital costs, including health care, recorded their biggest increase since 2007. The new state is most prominent, the cost of family health care has more than doubled, has reached more than 4000 yuan.
Australians will also face a blow, starting April 1, annual medical premiums will rise. The original 3000 yuan premium will rise by 120 yuan. About half of Australian households have health insurance.
In addition to long-term increases in the cost of health care, sharp increases in other costs have made the situation worse for families, including a nationwide surge in housing and car insurance costs and a surge in electricity tariffs.
South Australians feel the most about changes in electricity tariffs, which have risen by about $1200 to $2300 over the past decade, of which more than $450 has risen over the past year.
The fastest-rising single expenditure in 2017 was fuel, rising more than 200 yuan per household on average as countries such as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting countries (OPEC) and Russia cut production.
Professor Phillips said medical and hospital costs hit more than electricity, a discovery that could surprise many. "this is because these costs are not as transparent as quarterly electricity bills," he said.
"for the average person, the biggest expense is medical and hospital expenses. It's just not as high-profile as electricity and gasoline prices, "he said."
From a national point of view, in Australian dollars, for a small number of people, there is a bigger blow than medical, insurance and electricity costs. About 1/3 people rent houses in Australia.
And for mortgage payers, lower interest rates lighten their burden.
Typical mortgage floating rates are 3 percentage points lower than in 2007, according to (RBA).
In other words, many people will have bigger loans than they did a decade ago. And because of soaring house prices, those who are desperately saving down payments are under heavy economic pressure.
In percentage terms, the fastest-growing costs are child care and computer-related costs.
Before their standard of living began to decline, the standard of living had risen 69% since 1988.