Recent polling from the Australian National University has found that Australians are, on average, facing more financial stress now than during any other time since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. This year, almost 28% of Australians said they were finding it difficult to get by on their current income. In November 2020, just 18% said the same thing.
These financial pressures are forcing people to change the way they live in significant and often unwelcome ways. We asked Guardian Australia readers to share stories of how they are getting by. While some of these changes have come with silver linings, others can feel themselves falling through the net.
