Millions of Australians are struggling with debt amid the cost-of-living crisis but refuse to ask for help from their bank or lender, a new report says.
ASIC’s Moneysmart research says 47 per cent of Australians with debt – the equivalent of 5.8 million people – have struggled to make repayments in the past 12 months.
Reduced income, unexpected expenses, and cost of living pressures were the chief reasons cited.
Millennials and parents of young children were among the worst hit.
More than half (54 per cent) of millennials say they are likely to experience financial hardship in the next 12 months, compared to 39 per cent of Generation X respondents, and 31 per cent of baby boomers.
And 56 per cent of parents with children under 18 say they’ve been put through the financial wringer in the past year.
However, just one in five said they had sought financial assistance, with more than half (55 per cent) of those surveyed saying they didn’t even know they were able to.
Thirty per cent of respondents said they wouldn’t seek help on principle, fearing it would cost them more in the long run, or that their lender would do little to help.
Many would either sell their possessions (42 per cent) or get a second job (40 per cent) to make ends meet.
