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WA's cost of living crisis: Paying bills, not partying

A flourishing mining boom and the massive influx of people that came with it have sent the cost of living in WA through the roof. Now the boom is gone, but life in the west stays expensive.

Perth is the second most expensive city in Australia, just behind Sydney, while WA also got the undesirable gong of hitting the highest unemployment rate in the country.

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A poll of around 1700 residents shows the WA state election is set to be a tight contest.

Cost of living has become the biggest concern for WA voters, with 25 per cent of people asked in an exclusive poll for Fairfax Media saying that it was the most important election issue for them, way above unemployment (about 16 per cent) and the controversial Perth Freight Link (15 per cent).

WAtoday checked in with every day Perth residents in key demographics to see how the high cost of living challenges their every day lives. 

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Young people in perth

'It's this hard for me, I can only imagine how bad it must be for others'

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Jane* is a 23-year-old law student, currently chipping away at her degree at the University of Western Australia.

Jane's circumstances are fairly typical - she lives in a middle-class area of Padbury, drives a small and reliable Hyundai and just returned from an overseas trip to visit relatives in England.  

She also lives at home with her two parents, her mother, a respected mining board member and her father, a disability support worker.

At 23, Jane has had to field all the usual questions demanded of those in their early-twenties: when are you going to settle down? Are you looking at buying a house? Why haven't you moved out? When are you going to start full-time work?

Jane laughs a little at those questions.

"Live my life for a week and let me know how that would be possible."

Jane works in an English pub north of Perth, and often works 35 hour weeks in order to support herself and her family while studying. At 23, she contributes to much of the house expenses, and in her rare free time is often in charge of driving her father to and from several of his medical appointments.

Jane has worked since she was 14, and has taken on roles everywhere from waitress to bank teller, but believes she has found her niche working in the popular bar and restaurant.

Her week is spent grinding out hours of study in between eight hour shifts. She has been known to take her laptop to work and sit it on the bar in the hope she may get some much-needed time for study.

"I'll bring my laptop in and sit in the office, and listen to the lectures I missed because I was working.

"On Friday I have a compulsory lecture, where we do a quiz every week as well as being marked on participation - so it's impossible for me to not go to and expect to pass.

"There's only one class available, so it's not like I can go to another and make it up. It pisses my boss off, because Fridays are obviously really busy for bars."

Jane is one of Perth's thousands of university students attempting to support herself, her family and her studies, all while attempting to maintain a healthy work-life balance.

In fact, her experience as a student living at home is supposed to be one of the most cost-effective ways to get by in WA.

But that hasn't proved the case.

Like many parents, Jane's mum and dad have been forced to charge her board in order to make their own ends meet as her father takes time off work in order to recuperate from a number of serious surgeries.

"I pay $600 board a month. No exceptions, just like rent. I pay $120 a month for my car insurance, roughly $200 for petrol. I pay $100 for my phone bill... groceries are probably the biggest expense, but Aldi and Spudshed are saviours."

Jane said the expectation for some Perth young people to save while putting themselves through tertiary education was a big ask.

"It can be hard as a casual worker because sometimes I'll work seven days a week for two weeks, but then other weeks I'll get four shifts in a fortnight because it might be dead."

Jane previously used her Sunday shift as her disposable income. But she said the Fair Work Commission's decision to cut penalty rates may in turn cut her spending money dramatically.

In recent years, it has gotten to the point where Jane has often considered packing up and moving back to her extended family in England in order to make ends meet.

But she is determined to finish her degree, and support her family through their difficult period.  

"It's my choice to work and study as much as I do, it's hard, but it will pay off eventually.

"In some ways I'm lucky to live somewhere as great and accessible as Perth but I can't imagine how difficult it must be for someone in a worse off state. Like single mums who are studying, or people studying and working full-time with a family.

"If it's this hard for me, I can only imagine how bad it must be for others."

*Name changed to protect privacy

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