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News.com.au
29-05-2025
- General
- News.com.au
Commute, cleaning among the microstressors getting Aussies down
Money, conflict in relationships and feeling lonely are the top three daily issues that are getting us down, as nearly half of Australians grapple with stress. New research, as part of News Corp's Can We Talk? campaign with Medibank, has revealed the everyday factors negatively affecting our mental wellbeing. One third of Australians surveyed said feeling guilty about money or behind financially was getting them down, followed by conflict with family, friends and colleagues (22 per cent) and feeling lonely (21 per cent). There is also a growing list of 'micro-stressors' we struggle with each day, including household chores, changes of plans, the weather, doom scrolling on social media and the commute to work or school. Psychologist Rachel Clements said anxiety was wreaking havoc on people's work, study, relationships and health, and could cause long-term issues such as heart disease and even chronic fatigue. 'It is the most predominant form of mental health issue that we see and it's definitely getting worse,' Ms Clements, a member of R U OK?'s Conversation Think Tank, said. 'Anxiety is a bit of a silent mental health issue because people think it's just stress … but will tell me in sessions: 'Oh I've actually been feeling like this for three years'. And mental health experts say more people are being caught in a caffeine and booze trap to cope with the pressure of work and life. Nearly half (46 per cent) of people are stressed, and 36 per cent are struggling to get enough sleep every week, the research by News Corp's Growth Distillery with Medibank found, while 41 per cent experience anxiety. 'We're going through a very volatile time in the world so we're almost in a constant state of hyper alertness,' Ms Clements said. Australia is in the grips of a mental health crisis, and people are struggling to know who to turn to, especially our younger generations. Can We Talk? is a News Corp awareness campaign, in partnership with Medibank, equipping Aussies with the skills needs to have the most important conversation of their life. She said it was not uncommon for people to drink six or more coffees a day as they weren't sleeping, then down one or two bottles of wine every night to numb their anxiety. 'We see a lot of people with anxiety in a caffeine alcohol cycle for years as a coping strategy … but it's not addressing the cause of their problem,' she said. News Corp launched the Can We Talk? campaign earlier this year, in partnership with Medibank, to help Australians discuss their mental health and drive more government support. Today the latest phase, focused on anxiety, launches. Ms Clements, director of psychological services at the Centre for Corporate Health, said parents were now booking counselling and psychology appointments for children as young as eight through free employee assistance programs, which were traditionally for staff. She said long waiting lists for psychologists in the private health system and cost of living pressures were helping drive the trend. 'Eight years ago we never had children coming through the EAP but now a lot of employees are looking at them as a solution for their children … and anxiety is significant in our data,' Ms Clements said. 'We've had to hire psychologists specialising in children to manage the emerging need.' University of Sydney psychiatrist Dr Elizabeth Scott said if you're more anxious or more stressed, something small could tip you over the edge, as your coping strategies were not as good. 'The things that people find stressful are often unpredictable and outside of their control, like trying to get to work on time, and dealing with public transport or traffic,' Dr Scott, a member of Medibank's Mental Health Reference Group, said. She said people were often surprised when they reached a tipping point over something small, and it could be a wake-up call to address the deeper issue. 'You could be having difficulty at work or in a relationship, but you think you're doing okay,' she said. 'And then suddenly a friend cancels, and it's the straw that breaks the camel's back. 'It can make people feel very distressed.' Dr Scott said it was important for people to monitor their stress levels and take regular mental health 'pulse checks'.
BBC News
30-01-2025
- Business
- BBC News
New homes fall again in government's first six months
The number of new homes in England continued to fall during the first six months that Labour was in power, analysis by BBC Verify BBC's housing tracker shows every region of England had a year-on-year fall in new homes in the second half of 107,000 new homes were recorded since last July's election, down 10% on the same six months a year warn Labour's manifesto target for 1.5 million new homes by the next election will be hard to achieve, although the latest figures do not yet show the effects of housing targets and planning government said it would deliver the homes and work was under way to "get Britain building again". The Labour government's targets for English councils, requiring 370,000 homes a year, were finalised in December. It expects to see the number of new homes rising "significantly" in about 2026-27, once reforms have taken data analysed by the BBC comes from energy performance certificates (EPCs), a leading indicator of new homes. BBC Verify analysis shows the number of EPCs for new homes lodged in the six months to December 2024 fell by 11,800 across England compared with the same period of biggest fall was in the North West, down by more than 27% while Yorkshire and The Humber saw a decrease of nearly 15%.Decreases in the West Midlands and the North East were slight, at a few dozen homes. It can take on average almost four years from application to building completion, for sites with up to 100 homes, says planning consultancy Rachel Clements said the previous Conservative government's changes in 2023, which removed mandatory housing targets, meant developers were less likely to submit an application because of the likelihood of refusal."This negative housing policy environment has led to a decrease in planning applications submitted, let alone approved, let alone houses built," she said. "Labour are rightly trying to turn the dial on this. Time will tell if it can deliver the enormous uplift needed."The Conservative party has been approached for comment. Housing market analyst Neal Hudson, of BuiltPlace, said there were no easy solutions."There's been no money forthcoming from government to subsidise delivery by putting homes into the social or private rented sector, which is something that governments did during previous market downturns," he Builders Federation chief executive Neil Jefferson said: "The planning changes are very positive, but were never on their own going to result in an increase in activity and further policy levers will need to be pulled to stimulate supply."A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said Labour had inherited "the worst housing crisis in living memory"."Work is already under way to get Britain building again, which includes overhauling the broken planning system and restoring mandatory housing targets for councils," he said."We are also increasing government investment in housing to £5 billion for this year, including an extra £500 million for the existing Affordable Homes Programme." Interactive tool produced by Allison Shultes, Scott Jarvis, Steven Connor, Charlie Colbourne and Preeti Vaghela About the data Every new home, whether a new build or a conversion, must have an EPC by law within five days of construction work being finished. This makes them a leading indicator of new housing in England, although the figures differ from the official statistics on net additional dwellings produced once a year and with an eight-month main differences are that EPCs do not account for demolitions and may be lodged some time before homes are ready to live in, possibly in a different financial have used EPCs because other quarterly statistics on new housebuilding in England tend to be an undercount. The government department in charge of housing has also used EPCs to estimate numbers of new homes while waiting for its annual net additional dwellings statistics to be published. What do you want BBC Verify to investigate?
