Australians ill-equipped for rising unemployment & unexpected costs

As the threat of unemployment intensifies a Bankwest survey has found almost one in three Australians have no savings buffer, and one in two would struggle to cope with redundancy.

According to Bankwest’s survey of 1,144 Australians released today, 38% don’t save a cent on a monthly basis. In addition, only one in four save more than 10% of their income every month.

Of the survey’s respondents 27% said they had no savings safety buffer whatsoever yet 52% said they would struggle financially if they were made redundant. Approximately 62% would also struggle if faced with major household repairs.

“Not only would most people be in dire trouble if they lost their jobs but our report found that half of Australians would struggle with simple things like a rise in household bills or major repairs to their car,” commented Bankwest retail CEO Ian Corfield