Cost of living crisis leaves family-of-four on minimum wage just $73 a week

Meanwhile, a single parent on the minimum wage will find themselves $180 short of what they actually need to get by each week.

The figures, released today in Anglicare Australia’s Living Costs Index, reveal the grim reality facing the 2.75 million Australians lowest paid workers and their families.

The analysis takes into account a 5.75 increase to the minimum wage announced by the Fair Work Commission earlier this month.

The bump does not quite cover annual inflation, which was sitting at 7.0 per cent in the March quarter.

From July 1, Australians on the minimum wage will earn $882.80 per week or $23.23 per hour.

The increase has led to an improvement in the situation for minimum wage workers from Anglicare’s Living Costs Index for 2022, which saw a full-time worker left with just $29 per week and a family-of-four being short $24 a week.

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However, the financial buffer remains precariously low, Anglicare said.

Housing is the most expensive cost for households, with average rents rising by more than 30 percent over the last three years.

“These numbers confirm what Australians already know. Living costs are spiralling. Essentials like food and transport are shooting up, and housing is more expensive than ever,” Anglicare Australia Executive Director Kasy Chambers said.

“It is no wonder that record numbers of people are taking up second jobs. People on the lowest incomes, even those working full-time, are being priced out of their own communities.

“Without action, the cost-of-living crisis could force huge numbers of people to turn to agencies like ours for basics – like food, rent, or medicine for themselves and their children.”