Australia’s economy abruptly entered into a recession due to the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. Related labour market shocks on Australian residents have been substantial due to business closures and social distancing restrictions. Government measures are in place to reduce flow-on effects to people’s financial situations, but the extent to which Australian residents suffering these shocks experience lower levels of financial wellbeing, including associated implications for inequality, is unknown. Using novel data we collected from 2078 Australian residents during April to July 2020, we show that experiencing a labour market shock during the pandemic is associated with a 29% lower level of perceived financial wellbeing, on average. Unconditional quantile regressions indicate that lower levels of financial wellbeing are present across the entire distribution, except at the very top. Distribution analyses indicate that the labour market shocks are also associated with higher levels of inequality in financial wellbeing. Financial counselling and support targeted at people who experience labour market shocks could help them to manage financial commitments and regain financial control during periods of economic uncertainty.

由于 2020 年的 COVID-19 大流行，澳大利亚经济突然陷入衰退。由于企业关闭和社交距离限制，澳大利亚居民的相关劳动力市场冲击很大。政府已采取措施减少对人们财务状况的流动影响，但遭受这些冲击的澳大利亚居民在多大程度上经历了较低的财务状况，包括对不平等的相关影响，尚不清楚。使用我们在 2020 年 4 月至 2020 年 7 月期间从 2078 名澳大利亚居民收集的新数据，我们表明，在大流行期间经历劳动力市场冲击与感知财务状况的平均水平降低 29% 相关。无条件分位数回归表明，除了最顶层之外，整个分布中都存在较低水平的财务状况。分布分析表明，劳动力市场的冲击也与更高水平的金融福利不平等有关。针对遭受劳动力市场冲击的人的财务咨询和支持可以帮助他们管理财务承诺并在经济不确定时期重新获得财务控制权。