Australia’s Youth Agenda: Generational Reset Needed to Unlock Australia’s Future

27 August 2025: Australia has long prided itself on the promise of intergenerational equity, where the next generation can benefit from greater opportunities than the last. A new report released today shows that this promise is at risk of being broken.

Developed by a team of young economists from Deloitte Access Economics, Australia’s Youth Agenda: Economic and Policy Imperatives analyses economic and demographic data from various sources to highlight the mounting economic and social challenges facing younger Australians, while making the case for embedding a youth lens in policymaking.

The report kick-starts an ongoing series from Deloitte Access Economics covering key issues facing Australia’s youth. Ranging from climate change and intergenerational wealth to loneliness, the Youth Agenda series aims to delve deeper and provide fresh, data-driven insights on major topics from a youth perspective.

Deloitte Access Economics Associate Director and report lead author Rhiannon Yetsenga said: “Today’s young people have come of age amid intensifying globalisation, a climate emergency, the rise of social media and AI, the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical turbulence, and a housing market beyond their grasp. They are more educated than any generation before them, yet face less secure work and delayed financial independence.

“This set of circumstances has left young people feeling increasingly disconnected from a society they perceive as not addressing their concerns: 42% of Australians aged 18 to 24 feel they are missing out on their youth, and 41% worry they won’t be able to live a happy and healthy life as they grow older.

“Every generation grapples with unique challenges, and we would not argue that older Australians had it easy, because they didn’t. Our view is that young people are facing distinct challenges that are not being sufficiently addressed in the national conversation or policymaking process.

“What comes next may very well be defined by if, and how, we include young people in the conversation. Understanding young Australians’ distinct challenges and embedding their perspectives into policymaking is a national economic imperative and key to opening the door to a more inclusive society.”

GROWING DIVIDES: THE CHALLENGES FACING YOUNG AUSTRALIANS

• Housing affordability is stalling young people’s independence: Around one-third of Australians aged 25-29 own their own home, down from more than half in 1981, while the share of young people living with their parents has almost doubled.
• Younger generations are having children later: More than half (55%) of Australians aged 18-25 say they are unlikely to have children, despite the demographic pressures of an ageing population. In 2003, there were over five working-age people for every person aged 65+, compared to 3.7 today.
• Work isn’t working for younger Australians: The number of young people in the labour force has increased by almost two million people in the past 25 years, with many working multiple jobs or balancing work and study. At the same time, real wage growth continues to lag for young people and nearly two in three report living paycheck-to-paycheck.
• Non-school qualifications increase: Lower wage growth comes despite younger Australians’ higher levels of educational attainment. Almost 80% of millennials have non-school qualifications, compared to just 48% for baby boomers. At the same time, skills shortages in essential sectors like trades and care continue to become more pronounced as younger Australians feel pressured to obtain a bachelor’s degree to stay competitive.
• Workplace flexibility a top priority: Young Australians increasingly value work-life balance and flexible working arrangements. The top two reasons why young people chose to work for their organisation in 2024 were good work-life balance and flexible hours.
• Climate concern growing: The share of young people who think global warming is a serious and pressing problem almost doubled to reach 73% in 2024. Young Australians are also concerned about AI, with two-thirds expecting it to cause the elimination of jobs.
• Connected, but alone: Gen Z is the most digitally connected generation, but also the loneliest: one in four aged 15–24 experienced loneliness in 2022, and over half of young people (57%) aged 12–25 report worsening mental health.
• Views on gender diverge: Young people are expressing more diverse identities in relation to gender and sexuality, but views on traditional gender norms are becoming increasingly polarised between young women and men. In 2022 Deloitte Access Economics estimated that abandoning prescriptive gender norms would boost Australia’s GDP by an average of $128 billion each year.

ECONOMIC SETTINGS CONTINUE TO FAVOUR OLDER AUSTRALIANS

The average household aged 65-74 now has five times as much wealth as the average household aged 18-34, up from three times as much in the 1990s. As a result, 40% of young adults expect to rely on family assistance to buy a home.

To cope with the cost of living, young Australians aged 25-29 cut back spending more than any other age group in 2023-24, reducing overall spending by 3.5%, while Australians aged 60+ increased spending above inflation.

Chart 7: Proportion of young people living with parents by age group, 2021-23 compared to 2001-03, 1991 and 1981

Home ownership is the bedrock of wealth accumulation and the cornerstone of the Australian dream, yet housing continues to become increasingly unaffordable, benefiting older property-owners at the expense of younger people trying to get a foot on the property ladder.

Yetsenga added: “Housing unaffordability negatively impacts individuals, society and the economy. It causes higher levels of debt and financial stress, can force individuals to move away from work and loved ones, and delays family formation, contributing to lower fertility rates.

“As rent or mortgage payments consume a greater share of income, young people have less capacity to spend in the broader economy or build savings. For renters, slower savings growth delays home ownership, which may increase reliance on family assistance.

“Policymakers are aware of these issues but the continuous emphasis on demand-side subsidies without adequate supply-side policy only fuels prices, leaving young people to chase the market whilst combating rising rents. Real affordability demands confronting the politically harder task of broader tax reform – whether on housing tax or broader wealth settings – that continue to lock young Australians out”.

ENACTING THE YOUTH AGENDA

Millennials and Gen Zs now outnumber Baby Boomers at the polls and comprise over 40% of the workforce. However, under 40s hold just 7.6% of Federal Parliament seats. Young Australians feel sidelined and unheard by political decision-makers, with only one in three trusting the Federal Government to do the right thing most of the time.

The report argues that embedding a youth lens in all major decisions is essential to the nation’s future prosperity and to restoring trust in the political process.

Key opportunities identified in the report include:

• Reforming housing tax settings, investing in affordable supply, and addressing the structural causes of unaffordability by replacing stamp duty with a broad land-based charge or reviewing property concessions.
• Attracting and retaining skilled and early career migrants to help redistribute the fiscal load of an ageing population and address skills shortages in critical areas, like housing construction.
• Ensuring flexibility in education and work pathways so young people can easily train, retrain, and move into needed sectors like care, clean energy and tech.
• Investing in the growing care sector, where the share of young people working has more than doubled since 2005, to help address the longstanding undervaluation of feminised work and attract more people into the sector.
• Embedding a youth lens into the budget process to ensure decisions reflect the best interests of young people, while also making their voices heard in public decision-making.

Yetsenga concluded: “Australia’s future is being decided now. There is an imperative – and urgency – to make sure it works for the very people who will inherit it”.  

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