Making ends meet
Having financial security and access to housing
Released 15/09/2025
Metrics
- Proportion of households who experienced a cash flow problem in the last 12 months
- Proportion of households unable to raise $2,000 when needed
Why this matters
Financial security is an important determinant of personal wellbeing.
Financial stress indicators can provide an indication of how many Australians lack financial security.
Progress
Cash flow problems
In 2023-24, the household saving ratio decreased to 2.5% from 3.8% in 2022-23, reflecting the need for households to draw down on their savings as the rise in nominal household consumption outpaced growth in gross disposable income.
Supplementary data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey shows that in 2023, 28% of households had at least one person reporting a cash flow problem in the 12 months prior. This was up from 24% in 2022, but relatively unchanged from 27% in 2020.
In 2020, the ABS General Social Survey found that 21% of households had at least one cash flow problem in the 12 months prior, compared with 19% of households in 2006.
From 2026 onwards, this indicator will be updated with data from the expanded General Social Survey.
- There were a number of questionnaire changes from 2014 to 2019 that should be considered when analysing change between these two periods. A summary of these changes is available in General Social Survey: Summary Results, Australia methodology.
- Care must be exercised when making comparisons between 2020 and previous years due to the higher non-response observed in 2020.
- Supplementary data is custom analysis of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics (HILDA) survey, funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services and managed by the Melbourne Institute. Results are presented at the household level, where a household is included if any member aged 15 years or over experienced one or more cash flow issues.
- Cash flow questions were not asked in wave 10 (2010) of the HILDA survey.
Inability to raise emergency funds
In 2020, 19% of households reported being unable to raise $2,000 for something important within a week, compared with 15% in 2006.
Supplementary data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey shows that the proportion of households with at least one person unable to raise emergency funds was relatively unchanged between 2020 and 2023 (27% in both years).
From 2026 onwards, this indicator will be updated with data from the expanded General Social Survey.
- There were a number of questionnaire changes from 2014 to 2019 that should be considered when analysing change between these two periods. A summary of these changes is available in General Social Survey: Summary Results, Australia methodology.
- Care must be exercised when making comparisons between 2020 and previous years due to the higher non-response observed in 2020.
- Supplementary data is custom analysis of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey, funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services and managed by the Melbourne Institute. Results are presented at the household level, where a household is included if any member aged 15 years or over would be unable to raise funds.
- The HILDA survey has updated reference amounts asked: waves 1-8: $2,000; waves 9-19: $3,000; waves 20+: $4,000.
Disaggregation
Further information on how household finances differ by family composition of household is available in ABS General Social Survey: Summary Results, Australia.