Many of us were anxious and fearful through the COVID pandemic, but we’ve probably began to feel lots higher since lockdowns have stopped and life looks more prefer it did previously.
But recent data shows that hasn’t been the case for Australia’s young people.
Our wide-ranging survey of youth across the country reveals many young people fear they’ll never have the ability to own a house and can find yourself worse-off than their parents.
Affordable housing is their top concern
Data from the 2023 Australian Youth Barometerwhich surveyed 571 young Australians aged 18-24 and interviewed 30 more, highlight young people’s interconnected and confronting attitudes about their futures.
In this third iteration of the annual survey, we expected improvements in young people’s attitudes following the worst of the pandemic.
But the pressures have intensified following increases to costs of living and multiple disruptions to young lives, resulting in anxieties about their future.
The clear majority of young people (70%) said inexpensive housing was their top concern (15% increase since last 12 months), while 51% nominated employment opportunities (up 9%) because the second.
Concern about inexpensive housing is unsurprising. The fear is real.
Aside from skyrocketing rents and house prices, many young people face the prospect of getting nowhere to live. According to 2021 Census data, almost one in 4 of all people experiencing homelessness (23%) are 12 to 24 years of age.
A 23-year-old woman from the ACT, who’s living in a caravan she doesn’t own, told us housing was her biggest concern:
I’m very lucky to have it [the caravan]. And if it gets taken away from me, I’m back out on the streets again […] I would like to have the ability to shower, have a spot to prepare, eat, all that. That’s really the one concern in life.
Seeing a pathway to inexpensive accommodation is all of the tougher given young people’s current circumstances.
Some 90% of those surveyed experienced financial difficulties prior to now 12 months, a continuation of last 12 months’s trend. Around one in five (21%) experienced food insecurity.
Surviving is a priority, let alone affording a roof tomorrow. Just 35% of young people feel confident that they’ll have the ability to afford a spot to live in the subsequent 12 months.
Feeling unprepared for the long run
Only 52% of young people we surveyed feel their education has prepared them for the long run
Three issues arise here. First, some young persons are critical of education of their schools and post school institutions.
One 23-year-old woman from South Australia said:
The learning system in Australia is totally appalling is what I even have to say about it. It is so behind, it’s so backdated, it has not kept up with the times, their learning ways are only inaccurate, and a waste of everyone’s time […] It wasn’t catered to what could be best for learning within the classroom, it was just, ‘This is what the system is, that’s what we’re doing’.
Second, there may be a growing awareness that in a competitive labour market, greater qualifications won’t result in desirable, secure jobs.
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The third is knowing what’s required to get that desirable work. Upheavals to the workforce, including technological developments comparable to automation, have led to questioning what skills, knowledge and experience are required for job futures which are decreasingly knowable.
Other aspects comparable to climate change (the third top issue requiring immediate motion) and geopolitical insecurity amplify uncertainty in regards to the future.
Challenges to youth mental health
The challenges outlined above intersect. One 20-year-old woman from Queensland told us:
I’m just nervous that it’ll be harder for me to get a job from my course or whatever, or that if stuff like cost of living and every part keeps going up, irrespective of if I get a job, I wouldn’t have the ability to, like, stay on top of that, as well.
Only 52% of young Australians think that it is probably going or extremely likely that they are going to achieve financial security in the long run.
More young Australians think they will probably be financially worse off than their parents (from 53% in 2022 to 61% in 2023). Most (97%) felt nervous, anxious or pessimistic prior to now 12 months (a rise of 14% on last 12 months’s data).
Just over 1 / 4 (26%) characterised their mental health as poor or very poor (up 8% on last 12 months). Nearly one in 4 (24%) received mental health care prior to now 12 months.
Young people see their health and wellbeing as interconnected to other aspects, comparable to inexpensive accommodation, jobs and food security. A 24-year-old man from New South Wales said that:
Financial independence is sort of a healthy thing. I feel that knowing that you possibly can afford your rent, knowing that you could afford food […] knowing that you’ve got a roof over your head is something that I measure for healthiness.
Attitudes which are here to remain?
Conditions for young people typically deteriorate during economic downturns. The query is whether or not the trends above reflect a tremor or a quake.
We saw during previous recessions how young people were disproportionately and negatively affected in comparison with older age groups. That tremor is already visible, despite relatively good employment figures in recent times (which insufficiently capture the standard, security and desirability of current employment). Even so, youth unemployment rate has increased to eight.7%.
So are these attitudes more likely to remain?
A youthquake is often defined as a marked shift in cultural norms led to by changing values, tastes and attitudes of young people. Such shifts are related to wider social, economic and political seismic upheavals.
Our findings suggest that conditions for the subsequent youthquake may need begun.
