New Australian Bureau of Statistics data reveals a record number of people are working multiple jobs as households try to keep up with the surge in the cost of living. Inflation has been at record highs, and Australians are paying some of the world’s highest power prices.

Sharp increases in power prices are making a cost-of-living crisis even worse. In some parts of the country, prices have risen by up to 25%.

Power prices in Australia have been fueled by various factors, including high inflation. There have also been expensive upgrades to aging transmission lines and distribution networks. Then there’s volatility in global energy markets caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine.

In Sydney, Diana Olmos, a migrant from Colombia, told local media that rising costs have made electricity almost unaffordable.

“The power prices will increase by 20 to 25%,” Olmos said. “I cannot afford that. I don’t know how we are going to survive this time with a huge cost-of-living rise, the rise of energy bills and really extreme weather.”

Almost a million Australians — or about 7% of the workforce — have multiple jobs, according to official data released this week by the Bureau of Statistics.

Gary Mortimer, a professor of marketing and consumer behavior at the Queensland University of Technology, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that many people are struggling financially, while others are taking advantage of record low unemployment.

“The main reason … is that cost-of-living crisis and being forced to pick up a second job, or a side hustle, but there are other groups involved there, too,” Mortimer said. “I mean, there is obviously the group that are actually taking advantage of the fact that we have got 3.5% unemployment. There is lots of work available.”

Food prices in Australia have increased by more than 7% in the past year. The cost of insurance has soared. So have mortgages. The Reserve Bank has raised interest rates 12 times since May 2022 as it tries to tame inflation, which currently stands in Australia at 6%, the same as neighboring New Zealand. In the United States, inflation — the general increase in prices — is at 4%, its lowest level since 2021, a decline mainly driven by a fall in fuel prices.

Australia’s inflation is, however, below that of the United Kingdom, where inflation fell to 7.9% in June, down from 8.7% in May.
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