A recent study has ranked the happiest – and most miserable – regions in the country, based on what’s really affecting today’s young Australians.
Data collected by Real Insurance measured concerns over family, finances, health, climate change, technology, work and education matters, among people under 55.
Residents of Sydney’s Blacktown area were reported to be among the most concerned in all these areas, followed by Wide Bay in regional Queensland.
Meanwhile, inner-city Brisbane residents were ranked Australia’s happiest due to the low level of worry on these matters.
Rebecca Maine (left) 25, a consultant at KPMG, said she was forced to increase her credit card line after moving to Sydney six months ago
Ryan Armstrong 31, who works as an analyst at an investment fund in Sydney’s CBD, said his main concern was saving to buy a home
Unsurprisingly, money-related issues, particularly, the rising cost of living and slow wage growth, was found to be the thing this demographic stressed about most.
More than 50 per cent of the 5,000 who participated indicated financial constraints were their biggest concern.
Climate change and environmental issues are also a large source of worry for young Aussies – coming in second on the list.
Perth residents were revealed to be the ‘least-financially concerned’, while Wide Bay residents were the most.
Inner Sydneysiders were also less likely to worry about money than those in the Blacktown area.
Sydneysider Rebecca Maine, 25, from Erskineville, revealed she is constantly trying to keep up with the cost of living after moving out of her parents’ Roseville, NSW home six months ago.
Ms Maine, a consultant at KPMG, has a steady annual income of $56,000, but said she is still struggling to stay afloat.
Data, collected by Real Insurance, revealed the top concerns in Aussies under 55 in NSW, were financial, climate change and work and education. Meanwhile, in West Australia, (43.6 per cent) residents seem to worry about these matters the least
Inner-city and south-west Perth ranks as country’s least-financially concerned region
Residents in Blacktown, located 34km west of Sydney, were found to worry about finances most
‘I just upped my credit card limit because I’m basically going backward in my week-to-week spending’, Ms Maine told Daily Mail Australia.
‘Fifty per cent of my paycheck goes to rent and I just turned 25 so I’ve been having a debate with my parents about private health insurance because I don’t want to pay for it.
‘I’m lucky to have savings from living at home for so long’.
Ms Maine currently pays $650 a fortnight for rent and now has to shell out $25 a week for a health plan of the least coverage.
Among her other expenses are transport, groceries – on which she spends $100 to $150 a week – her mobile phone bill, and home utilities.
‘Sydney is really expensive to live in,’ she added. ‘I’ve definitely been living paycheck-to-paycheck.
‘I work at KPMG and it’s a relatively good position to be in and I still stress about it. So I don’t understand how people who are not in this position live in Sydney’, she said.
In South Australia, 43 per cent of residents in the Adelaide – Central and Hills area were mainly worried about climate change
Residents of Blacktown were found to stress about financial issues more than any other part of the country, the report revealed
‘My roommate is in uni still and she is constantly tossing up if it’s worth working because it brings down her Centrelink payments.
‘I don’t know how to save money for my future because I’m going backward. Going on holiday and having a child – I can’t imagine doing that at the moment’.
For Ryan Armstrong, an analyst at an investment fund in Sydney’s CBD, finances, particularly money to buy a home, ranks first in his list of concerns, followed by health and climate change.
‘I’m 31 and it’s [housing affordability] one of those things that come up as a top concern and it’s spiraling out of control because of the interest rates’, he said.
Mr Armstrong, who earns $120,000 a year and lives in Double Bay with his girlfriend, said his current living situation is not as much of a worry as is his future.
‘In terms of my day-to-day it’s not too bad, but it’s a matter of what you want to do in the future. In terms of savings, it’s a struggle.
‘I’m pretty savvy with superannuation, but it’s everything between now and retirement that is my main concern.
‘I think that’s probably because I live in Sydney and it’s egregiously expensive. So it’s a matter of whether you want to own or rent, and I don’t want to rent for the rest of my life, but in Sydney that seems impossible.’