Australian wellbeing lifts in September quarter as financial stress starts to ease: NAB

Australians have reported a slight improvement in wellbeing as households become less concerned about their financial situation, according to a fresh National Australia Bank survey.

NAB on Friday said its latest quarterly wellbeing index — which measures levels of happiness, life satisfaction, life worth and anxiety — inched up slightly in the three months to September.

“The improvement in wellbeing in the September quarter was mirrored in a modest uplift in optimism about the future,” NAB said, with the share of Australians feeling more optimistic inching up to 29 per cent (from 28 per cent in the prior quarter). It’s still down from 31 per cent at the same time last year.

Australians still reported moderately lower levels for all other index components., with life worth, life satisfaction and happiness still to rebound.

“Perhaps some expected more from their post-pandemic lives than it has delivered,” NAB said.

“Then came cost of living and a range of additional financial pressures. In this environment, stress is elevated and sentiment fragile as many feel flat after years of uncertainty and a lack of clarity over the path ahead.”

Across Australia, wellbeing was highest in Queensland, with WA recording the lowest.

“Older Australians still to report much higher wellbeing than other age groups, and with retirees the highest of all groups,” NAB also said.

At the same time, the bank’s household financial stress index fell noticeably in the September quarter following an eight-year high.

“Not having enough to finance retirement remains the biggest contributor to overall household financial stress, and by a large margin, but concerns have eased.,” NAB said.