A SURVEY of people who seek help from the Salvation Army across Australia highlights the constant strain many find themselves living with, Bendigo’s officer says.

The Economic and Social Impact Survey of 1380 emergency relief recipients found affording enough food to eat was the most common day-to-day challenge respondents faced, followed by managing mental health and managing financial difficulties.

Major Andrew Walker, from the Bendigo corps, said affording enough food would be one of the main issues people presented with locally.

“It might be that a big bill comes in and they have to choose between paying the bill and food,” Major Walker said.

Housing stress was another prominent theme in the report and one which crops up in the Bendigo area.

Forty-four per cent of survey respondents moved, on average, three times in a year, with family violence the main reason people moved.

Major Walker said moving house was an expensive undertaking that put a strain on finances.

This was especially true of those who moved because of family violence, he said, which was usually women and children.

The survey report says home owners and private renters spent more than half their equivalised disposable income on housing costs, leaving them with a little more than $17 a day to live on.

Major Walker said rental prices could be quite high, putting a particular strain on single people and single parents.

Single-headed households make up more than 77 per cent of those who seek help from Bendigo Salvos.

Major Walker said the pressures placed by the cost of living had other impacts, as demonstrated by the survey.

Two-thirds of respondents were not able to afford dental treatment, and Major Walker said this was often seen in Bendigo, which led to further health issues.

He said social contact also often suffered as a result of financial difficulties, with many unable to afford going out with friends, or an internet connection that would provide social contact.

Major Walker said the survey highlighted how living with financial stress was constant and became a way of life for many.

The longer people were trapped in poverty, he said, the harder it became to find a way out.

He said this had an impact on all aspects of health and well-being, and often became an issue that perpetuated for generations in families.

The survey found a quarter of households with children under 18 could not afford three meals a day for their children.

The Salvation Army is in the midst of its Red Shield Appeal, and will be conducting door-knocking and collections in public areas on Saturday May 27 and Sunday May 28.