Making ends meet: no mean feat

AN Australian-first study will shine a spotlight on how Greater Dandenong residents juggle their income.
The Brotherhood of St Laurence is investigating how people living in low and moderate-income households in the municipality – bringing in less than $80,000 before tax – manage ups and downs in their earnings.
Those who take part in Spinning Plates will have an hour-long interview and complete an online survey each fortnight for four months.
Brotherhood research and policy centre senior research fellow Dr Marcus Banks said international studies showed people with volatile incomes faced increased financial risks as they tried to make ends meet.
“We know many Australians today work casually or on short-term contracts,” he said.
“But only yearly changes to household incomes are tracked.
“We know very little about how much household incomes vary from payday to payday, how many households are affected, how they cope or what kinds of financial ‘juggling’ is done.”
Each participant will receive a $260 Coles voucher. Brimbank and Whittlesea residents are also taking part.
Visit www.bsl.org.au/spinningtheplates for more information.