Women, young adults, the self-employed and renters were among the groups experiencing the most financial pain from the COVID pandemic late last year, an analysis from Queensland's peak body for the social services says.

Queensland Council of Social Service (QCOSS) chief executive Aimee McVeigh said "it may feel like it's business as usual for many of us in the community, but there are many people who are continuing to suffer the impacts".

"We know one in four Queenslanders lost employment or working hours during the period, and 35 per cent of Queenslanders say their impact has been reduced — these are pretty large numbers," she said.

QCOSS analysed responses to a nationwide survey administered by Deloitte, on behalf of industry network The Energy Charter.

It surveyed a representative sample of 3,019 people, with 671 responses in Queensland, between October 23 and November 2 last year — a time when only a few pandemic-related restrictions remained in place in the state.

Six key groups responded most negatively — women, young adults, renters, casual and part-time employees, the self-employed and those looking for work.

"This research really reflects the anecdotal information that we've received from our members during this period."

The analysis revealed:

• 29 per cent of the Queensland women who responded said they had lost jobs or working hours due to COVID-19, compared to 19 per cent of men
• 43 per cent had a reduction in household income, compared to 30 per cent of men. That figure was even higher for women aged 18-24 — just over half of whom said their household income had reduced
• 41 per cent of adults aged between 18 and 24 said they had lost their job or had their hours reduced
• 33 per cent said financial stress was keeping them up at night
• 31 per cent of renters had lost or reduced employment, compared to 17 per cent of mortgage holders
• 73 per cent of people who were self-employed or small business owners had experienced a reduction in household income, and 50 per cent said they needed support throughout the pandemic
• 70 per cent said they did not believe their life would be better in a year

Ms McVeigh said QCOSS was concerned the impacts of COVID on young people had not fully been felt.

"Because many young people will be continuing to graduate from university or training over the next years and entering into a weak economy where jobs are scarce," she said.

Wiped out super balances

Industry Super Australia (ISA) chief executive, Bernie Dean, said Queenslanders in particular had taken up the federal government's contentious measure to allow people to access their superannuation balances early.

The body collected data on who accessed the scheme.

With 884,862 people taking super out to help with living costs, Queensland was behind only New South Wales.

He said he believed a heavier reliance on the tourism and hospitality industries could be the reason why so many Queenslanders took the option.

"Generally more men than women tapped into their super, but women took out a higher proportion of their savings when they did," he said.

ISA said 173,659 Queenslanders had effectively wiped out their super balance, and about 120,000 of them were under 30.

"If we don't help these young people get back on track … they're going to retire with much less, and they're going to be more reliant on the pension," he said.

He said the greatest help would be the legislated schedule of increases in the super guarantee, to ensure employers begin paying more super from July.

"If you preserve these small bits going into an account regularly, they do actually grow to be quite significant in time," he said.

'Slap in the face for job-seekers'

QCOSS is calling for other measures to ease financial hardship for vulnerable groups.

It wants a major Queensland government investment in energy-efficient public and affordable housing, and for the federal government to further boost JobSeeker payments.

"The changes to JobSeeker, which were announced last week, were a slap in the face for job-seekers," Ms McVeigh said.