Young Australians have been sacrificed at the economic altar.
Home ownership rates among young Australians have collapsed, extinguishing the Australian dream:
The growing share of young Australians stuck in the rental market have then been hit by extreme rental inflation, driving up their cost of living:
Young Australians who attend university are paying more than ever for a degree of degraded value. HECS/HELP debts have risen to a record high:
As a result, it takes borrowers around a decade to pay off their university debts:
The tax system is also fundamentally unfair to young Australians. It overtaxes work via income taxes while lavishing concessions and subsidies on speculative property purchases and older, wealthier Australians.
The combination of financial pressures has contributed to the collapse in spending by younger Australians.
The following chart from independent economist Tarric Brooker shows that real per capita spending by younger Australians collapsed over the past year:
Source: Tarric Brooker
Brooker’s latest Avid Commentator report also shows that the real consumption of Australians aged under 35 was lower in 2021-22 than it was in 2003-04:
The next chart by Brooker presents the differences in spending by age cohort in bar chart form, which tells the same story:
As you can see, while older Australians are on average travelling nicely financially, younger Australians have been sacrificed at the economic alter.
An intergenerational and inequality disaster has unfolded before our eyes and none of our politicians care.
Young Australians should be protesting on the streets, but they are too busy fighting culture wars and injustices taking place in faraway foreign lands.
