Job security worries warming

One periodic survey of "household financial comfort" produced some gloomy data in its latest release. ME's Household Financial Comfort Index decreased by six per cent during the first half of 2015, "largely reversing the gain over the previous six months," the bank said.

Overall, the ME index shows "about 63 per cent of Australian households reporting mid to high comfort."


The context is mainly benign: "Households, on average, are coping reasonably well with debt servicing burdens due to ongoing low borrowing costs," the report said.

But there are pockets of stress.

Self-employed workers "reported the biggest fall in financial comfort (more than
20 per cent) to the lowest level seen for this group since the survey commenced in late 2011" and three times the waning comfort levels of full-time employees.


Concerns over job security may be more widespread. The bank's report said its measure of "job availability fell nine points with 56 per cent of the workforce indicating it would be difficult finding another job  within two months if they became unemployed, compared to 47 per cent six months ago."