WITH the rising cost of living taking its toll on many across the region, demand for food relief is on the rise, sadly with many people seeking out assistance for the first time.
While families are needing to make tough choices at the supermarket, buying cheaper processed food in lieu of more costly fresh produce, Australia’s largest hunger relief charity, Foodbank, estimates that 1.3M children across the nation are currently living in a household that is experiencing food insecurity.
With these distressing facts in mind, The Adviser, has asked locals to share their thoughts on how they are coping with inflation.
Local barista, Moira said, “Once achievable goals are no longer realistic for me. With the high cost of living, I’ve had to reduce my expectations of the future for the sake of my survival and my sanity.”
“Planning and saving for the future has become increasingly difficult, especially as the cost of living gets higher and higher, inevitably I am forced to live from pay check to pay check,” concurred Greg, who works as a café manager.
For some individuals, like Tone, who is both a peer support worker and a bartender, even working two jobs is not enough as she said, “It is difficult to manage expenses that are essential to survive right now, let alone save money for life experiences.
“Increasingly, I am having to make personal sacrifices to even be able to make ends meet.”
