Young Australians feel fed up, let down and are ready to act on economic, social, political, environmental and consumerism concerns as they emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a global study by Havas Group.
The Generation COVID’ Prosumer (those who both consume and produce) Report surveyed 17,500 people globally, including Australians aged 18-40, to examine how the challenges of the pandemic have affected behaviours, attitudes and sense of what the future holds.
“The biggest thing we observed was a generation of young Australians wrestling with anger and disaffectation. They’re eager to right the wrongs of those in power and start the world afresh. We can either help them build a better future or ignore them at our own peril,” says Olly Taylor, CSO, Havas Creative Group Australia said.
The report found COVID-19 robbed young Australians of foundational life experiences, leaving them to languish indoors, feeling resentful and isolated. The overwhelming majority (82%) feel they’ve had to make many sacrifices, and more than half (56%) admit they’ve never felt lonelier in their lives.
The greatest hardship cited was the challenge of planning for an unknown future (35%), followed by grappling with the loss of foundational experiences such as in-person learning, graduations and social events (25%).
This generation of Australian youth believe they have borne more than their fair share of sacrifice during the pandemic.
While just two-thirds of older Prosumers (aged 41 and up) feel the younger generation has had to make many sacrifices because of COVID-19, more than eight in ten (82%) young people feel that way.
On a positive note, 72% of Australia’s Gen Z’s believe COVID-19 has made them more resilient, and 74% say they feel “more grown up”.
The study revealed young people are fed up. Having seen their futures at the brink of cataclysm, young Australians place the blame squarely on the shoulders of the Baby Boomer generation that wields the power.
This generation is refusing to accept orthodoxies related to life and achievement. Three in four young Australians are ready to take radical action to bring about real change in the world (74%) and do not accept that a university degree is essential to career success (75%).
When it comes to career choices, a high salary is no longer the ultimate aim, with less than one in four (23%) saying financial security is the most important criteria for selecting a job. Eight in 10 (80%) say their generation is tired of “bullshit jobs (dead-end jobs or careers that do not contribute to the greater good) and craves work that will have a real impact”.
Australia’s youth are rejecting traditional politics in favour of a personal approach to driving change. Seven in 10 (70%) young Australian Prosumers believe political leaders are disconnected from the aspirations of today’s younger generation. Two in three (66%) prefer to be activists fighting for causes they care about rather than committing to any political party.
Young Australians see the COVID-19 disaster as an indictment on our culture of consumerism at all costs. With the balance of power shifting to the younger generation, more than three-quarters (76%) agree they want to build a new world that is less consumption-obsessed.
Almost nine in 10 (88%) young Australian Prosumers want their generation to build a world that values sharing over ownership.
Young people’s desire to break away from the tenets of capitalism and consumerism could potentially manifest in continued growth of the sharing economy and a wholesale rejection of overconsumption.
About three in four of this generation in Australia are personally ready to live a more minimalist lifestyle to help solve the world’s problems (72%), including preparedness to stop buying fast fashion (58%), avoid air travel (44%) and produce more of the things they use (80%).
Havas Group partnered with Market Probe International to survey 17,500 people aged 18 and over in 32 markets, including Australia, in Q1 2021.
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