More than half of Australians fear a Depression is not far off, according to TNS’ Financial Crisis Study.
The study looks at how the global financial crisis is affecting consumers in the UK, France, Germany, US and Australia.
While Australians remain more positive about the outlook for 2009 than the UK, France and the US, 57 percent believe that the economic crisis will be of Depression rather than recession proportions.
As a result many have cut back their spending, with 7 out of 10 consumers (69 percent) indicating their spending patterns will change.
According to John Shearer, director with TNS Finance and Business, consumers are starting to change their financial priorities, which reflects a “growing cautiousness among consumers.”
“We asked Australian consumers how they would use a windfall of $1000 and on average, only around $220 would be spent, with the rest being saved or used to pay down debt.”
