The latest Australian Unity Wellbeing Index survey report released in partnership with Deakin University has found record low levels of satisfaction with life in Australia as younger Australian adults feel the brunt of financial challenges amid the cost-of-living crisis.
The survey, conducted in June 2024, measured subjective wellbeing in more than 2,000 adults aged 18 years and older across a series of personal and national areas, including the economy, health, and community connectedness.
This year, researchers also explored how subjective and objective financial factors intersected with subjective wellbeing, following record low economic satisfaction in 2023.
Key findings:
* Record low satisfaction with life in Australia: Australians' overall satisfaction with their personal lives remained close to its lowest level recorded, while satisfaction with life in Australia reached its lowest level in the survey's 24-year history.
* Young adults are not alright: Adults aged 18-34 years reported the highest feelings of mental distress and loneliness and some of the lowest levels of personal wellbeing of any group across the adult lifespan.
* Generational divides in financial wellbeing: One in two adults under 55 years old reported going without essential items because of money pressures and felt financially worse off than their parents were at their age.
* Financial deprivation matters to personal wellbeing: Once again, those facing financial hardship, such as insecure housing, low incomes, or unemployment, reported some of the lowest levels of personal wellbeing.
The 2024 survey was conducted during a month marked by particularly high cost-of-living, mortgage and rental strain in the housing market, intensifying wealth inequalities, and globally destabilising armed conflict.
Against this backdrop, satisfaction with life in Australia dropped to its lowest level on record since 2002. This was matched by record-low scores on the National Wellbeing Index, a marker of how satisfied Australians feel with areas of national life, including the social conditions and economic situation in Australia.
Dr Kate Lycett, from SEED Lifespan in Deakin's School of Psychology, and lead researcher of the Australian Unity Wellbeing Index, said the latest data shows that Australians' wellbeing remains low, with concerning income and age inequities persisting.
'These findings go against our expectations of social progress, where each generation will be better off than the next, and point to an urgent need to tackle growing national inequities,' Dr Lycett said.
'In 2024, we need to ask ourselves, and particularly those in power, what type of country do we want to be - if we want to boost our collective wellbeing, we need to deal with the big issues facing our nation and stop tinkering at the edges.'
Australians' overall life satisfaction and Personal Wellbeing Index scores (markers of personal wellbeing) remained low, with little recovery from the drop in levels recorded in 2022. Notably, Australians' satisfaction with their health fell to its lowest point on record.
The pattern of age and income inequities that emerged in recent years also persisted. Those aged 55 years and under, and those with a household income of $104,000 or less, recorded notably lower personal wellbeing than older adults and those with higher household incomes, respectively.
These inequities were felt financially, too. More than half of adults under 55 years old were experiencing material deprivation - meaning they went without at least one essential item (most commonly health care or food) due to money pressures in the month prior to the survey period - compared to only a quarter of older adults. Respondents under 55 years were also more than twice as likely to feel worse off financially than their parents at the same age, compared to older adults.
Young adults were doing it particularly tough. As well as having the lowest personal wellbeing scores,18-34-year-olds reported the highest feelings of mental distress and loneliness. Millennials (aged 25-44 years old) also recorded the lowest financial satisfaction, particularly with their ability to afford the things they needed and to save money.
Esther Kerr, Chief Executive Officer Wealth and Capital Markets at Australian Unity, said the generational gap, when it comes to financial wellbeing, and consequently overall wellbeing, was accelerating.
'On one hand, we have people over 55 owning real estate and with healthy savings, while younger generations are on a spinning hamster wheel as saving gets harder and harder, and asset ownership gets further and further out of their reach. If this continues, we'll be living in a country where wellbeing is for the wealthy and home ownership is hereditary.'
In line with 24 years of research, people at risk of severe financial hardship (on the lowest household incomes or in unemployment) reported very low wellbeing. Importantly, this survey saw a boost in wellbeing among these groups in 2020 after government policies implemented at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic helped reduce wealth inequities in Australia for the first time in two decades.
This year also saw the importance of secure housing - renters reported much lower levels of wellbeing compared to homeowners (even ones with a mortgage) and felt especially low satisfaction with their financial security.
To better understand which factors were most important to personal wellbeing, researchers examined them in combination, to match the reality that these factors work together and not in isolation. Above all else, this exploration found that Australians' satisfaction with their ability to afford the things they need was the strongest factor differentiating high and low subjective wellbeing, followed by socio-emotional and relational factors. For Australians with moderate financial satisfaction, having access to support from people they knew was the key differentiator for higher wellbeing.
Dr Lycett said the findings emphasise the importance of fostering meaningful connections and investing in relationships.
'Having people to rely on during difficult times pays wellbeing dividends. Equally important is remembering we have the power to uplift the wellbeing of those around us by being a source of support when they need it most.'
The Australian Unity Wellbeing Index is one of the world's longest running national studies of subjective wellbeing across the adult lifespan. Since the first survey was released in 2001, data from over 78,000 Australians has been widely used by researchers, governments and organisations to gain insights into how satisfied citizens are with their lives and the nation.
In conjunction with the release of the 2024 report, Australian Unity has established a new Data Dashboard, allowing Australians to view and interact with current and historical data from the Wellbeing Index. This can be found via the Australian Unity website.
The 2024 Australian Unity Wellbeing Index summary report can be viewed here.
