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Lettuce talk cost of living

June 17, 2022


The skyrocketing and record high prices of fuel, vegetables, and other household essentials have been making headlines for the past few weeks, with rising prices and inflation driving big increases in the cost of living in Australia. The humble iceberg lettuce, as an example, is crossing the check out at a humbling $6.50 a head!

To get a read on the public’s sentiment towards this hot and very real issue, now and into the future, we put some questions out to West Aussies in the latest wave of the People’s Voice monthly omnibus.

Alarmingly, 98% are concerned about the cost of living and the impact that it will have on their day to day lives, of which 2 in 5 are extremely concerned. 26% feel moderately concerned, while around 1 in 5 mention being somewhat or slightly concerned respectively. It’s no wonder why the queues on cheap fuel days are getting longer and longer, or why more are taking advantage of the specials advertised in the supermarket catalogues!

Looking forward to the year ahead, we also wanted to understand how consumers’ spending habits might change as a result of the current financial climate – and it looks like we’ll be tightening our belts a lot in the future!

A staggering 79% mentioned that they will need to be more careful with the way they spend their money, with 1 in 3 feeling the need to be a lot more careful! No one felt that they could be more frivolous and less careful with their money in the next 12 months – suggesting that while all Western Australians are feeling the pinch, they also all have foresight to ensure they can manage their spending habits accordingly. Although, this raises some important concern – what impact might this increased price sensitivity have on local businesses (think your local restaurants and cafes) and the tourism industry that have all been through a rough ride with COVID recently? Often when the going gets tough, spending on things like meals and holidays gets bumped to the bottom of the list…

Stay tuned as we keep our ear to the ground and continue to track the sentiment of Perth residents on topical issues just like this.