Australians aged under 25 are taking longer to recover from the financial impacts of COVID-19 than all other age groups, according to new ANZ research.
The ANZ Roy Morgan Financial Wellbeing Indicator found that people aged 14-24 were the hardest hit by the pandemic, mainly because 23.4% of them worked in industries that were heavily impacted by lockdowns, such as hospitality and retail.
As a result, this group were less likely to feel financially stable and less confident about managing their finances than other age groups, with this gap widening between March and December 2021, the study found.
The pandemic also affected younger Australians’ attitudes towards work and socialising as well as their mental health. Those reporting they had experienced mental health conditions rose by 12.4 percentage points from 45.5% in March 2021 to 57.9% in December.
Findings also showed that the financial wellbeing of Australians increased 2.8%, to 59.1 (as a score out of 100) between March and December 2021. Financial wellbeing also improved across all states and territories over the period, with ACT and Tasmania experiencing the largest growth, at 4.5% and 4%, respectively, while SA experienced the smallest with 0.2% growth.
Those aged 14-24 were also found to have also experienced the largest decline in financial wellbeing during the first year of the pandemic, down 7.3% between March 2020 and March 2021. The same age group saw a 1.5% increase in those who said they were “feeling comfortable,” and declines in “resilience for the future” (down 1.5%) and “meeting everyday commitments’ (down 0.5%).
“There are many reasons younger Australians are taking longer to recover financially from the pandemic,” said Natalie Paine, ANZ lead social impact research and reporting. “Many have lost confidence in managing their money and are more likely to say they would have difficulty coping with a demanding job, compared to the general population.”
