SYDNEY, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- About 1.6 million Australians with children aged below 10 will not be able to afford Christmas presents for their kids this year, an increase of more than a million from last year's figure, according to latest research commissioned by The Salvation Army charity group.
"People living on marginal incomes and tight budgets are already carefully managing how they spend their money but with power prices escalating, housing affordability getting worse and more Australians struggling to get enough paid work, it's getting harder and harder for many people to keep their head above water," the group quoted its Major Paul Moulds as saying in a media statement on Wednesday.
More than 730,000 Australians also know 10 or more families who will experience financial hardship this Christmas and about eight million believe the public is not doing enough to help the needy this festive season, showed the research from the group, which carries out an annual Christmas charity drive.
"Over Christmas we will help over 300,000 people, serve over 10,000 meals and distribute more than half a million gift and toys to people to Aussies in need," said Moulds.
"Additionally, the face of loneliness is changing and is affecting people from all walks of life. More and more people in our community are facing isolation at Christmas."
