The Square Holes research, which has been ongoing since 2013, was designed to track measures of confidence and perceived financial security in the community, and is conducted via a representative survey of 400 adults.

From March 2020 onward, the monitoring expanded to explore the current state of mind of South Australians in response to changes brought on by the pandemic.

For the latest results, as much as it was about the global level impact, traces of struggle remain in terms of the economy, mental wellbeing and confidence in the future.

It’s not all doom and gloom though, as South Australians as a whole reflected a better resilience in mental wellbeing and overall maintain an optimistic outlook for what’s to come.

Some of the key measures from the study include general confidence levels about the next 12 months (mapped on a monthly basis), perceived financial security (being better or worse compared to 12 months ago and in 12 months), mental health, and wellbeing (being better or worse compared to 12 months ago and in 12 months time), and the frequency of various indicators related to mental wellbeing.

Recent findings from the latest wave in November 2023 reflect some of the changes as follows.

General confidence

When we expand the general confidence for the coming 12 months into past trends, the date reveals that it was recorded at its lowest at the start of the pandemic with the trend dropping to 26 per cent in March 2020.

As containment measures lessened, confidence levels slowly improved, reaching the peak of 53 per cent in August 2022. This level has since dropped down and remained stable around 40 per cent towards the end of 2022 and all three waves in 2023.

As of November 2023, confidence in the next 12 months is similar among different age groups, sitting around the 43 per cent mark.

This is in stark contrast to just a month prior, where the older residents of South Australia (50+) were much less confident than their younger counterparts.

Financial security

Financial security compared to 12 months ago has remained stable around an average of 25 per cent in 2023, after dropping from the peak of 34 per cent in March 2022.

Anticipation of financial security to be better in 12 months was the highest in September 2023, reaching a peak of 38 per cent after a steady recovery in 2022. Yet the year 2023 ends on a drop to 27 per cent in November wave.

Mental health and wellbeing

In terms of mental health and wellbeing, the tracking of mental health being better compared to 12 months ago has improved consistently in 2023, regardless of  fluctuations in the past years due to the pandemic.

Anticipation for personal health and wellbeing to improve within the next 12 months also increased in 2023, until another Covid wave in November 2023 where it dropped to 23 per cent.

Younger residents between the age of 18 and 24 are the most confident in terms of both financial and mental wellbeing. Yet they tend to face more frequent occurrences of the designated signs of mental health impacts.

The three main indicators were identified as feeling tired for no good reason (29%), feeling nervous (27%) and feeling restless or fidgety (26%).

Overall, the trends on confidence levels and anticipation for better financial security and mental health fluctuated in 2021 and 2022 and reflect a community still uncertain about stability after the onset of the pandemic.

On average, while remaining optimistic over 2023, South Australians are learning to adjust in the face of uncertainty and take unpredictability in their stride.