Thuy Pham has run two jobs for much of her working life, and a little over two years ago all that effort paid off when she realized a dream of buying her own home. As the coronavirus shutdowns have deepened, that’s started to unravel: First she was stood down from one job, then the other, and now she’s registering for welfare to help meet mortgage payments.

"I’m scared,” said Pham, who found out she was among the rapidly swelling ranks of unemployed people on the very day she was due to meet her mortgage broker to take advantage of lower interest rates. "Everyone is saying it’ll be six months, but it could actually be longer. I never thought I’d ever be on Centrelink. I’ve always worked my guts out.”

Like many in the workforce, Pham has never really experienced recession due to Australia’s enviable record of almost 30 years without one. But that has come with a less desirable record of highly indebted households and sky-high property prices. This raises the risk that the recovery could take longer and could increase financial stability concerns if people can’t cover their loans.