A new report has revealed essential workers are struggling the most in Australia to afford rent.
The data from Anglicare Australia analysed 45,895 rental listings across the country, revealing the average rent price had increased by 11 per cent in the past year.
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Despite working full time, people in the health industry were unable to afford most listings.
Ambulance workers could only afford 2.4 per cent of listings, nurses could afford 666 listings nationally and aged care worked could afford 1.1 per cent of available listings.
Early education workers were also in a dire state, only able to afford 0.9 per cent of listings.
People working in certain professions were also found to struggle paying rent in various states: hospitality workers only able to afford six and 70 properties in WA and Victoria respectively.
“Rents have never been less affordable,” the report said.
“Such dire results have a real impact on people’s lives. They show that large numbers of Australians will not be able to land a lease without getting into severe rental stress.
“This means that people can be forced into unfair choices like skipping meals, foregoing essentials, or turning to payday loans to get by. As our rental crisis becomes a permanent reality, many people can expect to live in these conditions for most of their lives.”
The Rental Affordability Snapshot also broke down affordability for household types – couples, couples with children, and singles, varying age, as well as what sort of payment type they received – minimum wage, Jobseeker, Youth Allowance or Age Pension.
Rent affordability was measured by costs being no more than “30 per cent of a household budget for it not to cause financial stress or difficult choices” – in line with the internationally set benchmark.
The full report can be viewed on the Anglicare Australia website.