After an election campaign defined by living standards, Australia has elected a new parliament. But the living standards crisis has not gone away: many Australians remain frustrated with the struggle to make ends meet. How did we get here? what can be done?
For some years, the building blocks of Australia’s high living standards – decent wages, affordable housing, and good quality, accessible education, health, and social services – have been eroded. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, this erosion accelerated alongside significant price rises for essential goods and services. Australians were pushed into a living standards crisis.
The post-Covid living standards crisis has affected all Australian workers and their families. It has worsened inequalities. People who were already doing it tough were hit hardest. Meanwhile, Australia’s biggest businesses posted record profits.
This Carmichael Centre Explainer offers a succinct and clear summary of the causes, effects, and solutions to the living standards crisis.
This Explainer firstly examines the economics of the living standards crisis: why prices have risen, why wages are not stretching as far as they need to, why interest rates stayed high for so long, and why interest rates are not the best tool to fight this inflation.
The Explainer then turns to the effects of the crisis: how groups in society are affected differently. Finally, it proposes progressive solutions to the living standards crisis can raise incomes, restore full employment, and expand high quality public services. Together, these can move Australia towards a more equal future with higher living standards for all.