A recent report has revealed young people in Australia feel they are missing out on their youth due to increased pressures such as the cost-of-living crisis. (Image: SHVETS production)
By Thomas Docking | @tom_docking
A recent report released by The Monash Centre for Youth Policy and Education Practice (CYPEP) found that nearly 45 per cent of young Australians aged 18–24 feel they are missing out on their youth.
According to the CYPEP report, young Australians must balance enjoying their youth and working towards future adult responsibilities.
Recent University of Adelaide graduate Will Kenneally agreed that young Australians should have more time to experience youth before adult life.
“I think it’s important that in a modern society, […] kids and youth should at the very least be given the opportunity to enjoy their time,” Kenneally said.
The report detailed how the COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on young Australians, robbing them of many important life experiences during lockdown as they entered adulthood.
CYPEP Research Fellow Thuc Bao Huynh highlighted how COVID exacerbated the existing challenges young people face.
“A lot of the problems facing young people can date back before COVID, but once COVID hit a lot of these problems became more pronounced,” Huynh said.
This is seen through the current cost-of-living crisis.
The 2024 Australian Youth Barometer report found 86 per cent of young Australians experienced financial difficulties in the last 12 months.
“It’s making it quite hard for [young people] to be able to find independence and make a transition from being a child into being a young person, and from there, being a young person into an adult,” Huynh said.
Kenneally supported this view, having recently moved back home due to rising costs.
“[I] definitely wouldn’t mind if it was a bit cheaper to be able to live out of home and experience that sense of independence and freedom,” Kenneally said.
“I was lucky to have experienced it a little but [I’ve] moved back into Mum’s at the start of the year because it all cost too much.”
These challenges mean that young people are no longer accomplishing the usual transitional markers of being young such as finding a job, moving out, buying a home and starting a family.
Huynh said that failing to achieve these markers makes young Australians feel like they are missing out on their youth.
“The markers of transition … are just a lot harder to do now and it’s contributing to the fact that young people feel like they’re really missing out on that aspect of the life course,” Huynh said.
“There are societal pressures that say by a certain age you should have accomplished this thing, or at least more realistically, if you haven’t done this thing by this age, you are a loser.
“It’s making people have worse mental health outcomes, because they’re just stressing out about whether or not to be able to do this thing.”
The CYPEP report found that 98 per cent of young Australians reported feeling anxious or pessimistic in the last year — half of them also thought they were missing out on their youth.
Huynh highlighted the importance of mental health support for young Australians at the moment.
“Mental health support is just very important in general for young Australians […] it’s just a really big issue that everyone’s going through and they need as much support as they can,” Huynh said.
Kenneally argued that while mental health was important, the root of these issues should also be addressed.
“Mental health support is all good ‘n’ well, [but I] think it would be better to focus on the more driving parts of these issues […] rather than just focus on treating it,” Kenneally said.
Huynh concurred that issues such as the housing crisis and the cost-of-living crisis were also factors driving mental health issues.
“There are also a lot of issues that are facing young people these days that are really hard to deal with at an individual level,” Huynh said.
The CYPEP report argued lack of support around cost of living and mental health directly contributed to young Australians’ feelings of missing out on youth.
Huynh said many young people turn to their family or friends for support, but more formal support systems were needed when that was not available.
“[Young Australians] need support from somewhere if we’re honest, and government is a really good place to be able to get that support from,” Huynh said.
According to the CYPEP report, young Australians feel as though the government fails to provide financial, unemployment and housing support to young Australians.
Notably, 50 per cent of young Australians who said they felt like they were missing out on their youth said there was not enough government housing support.
Young Australians seeking mental health support can find help from organisations like Headspace and Mission Australia, with the latter also providing other services such as housing and financial support.
For any immediate support please call:
Lifeline on 13 11 14
Headspace on 1800 650 890
Homeless Connect South Australia on 1800 003 308
ontherecordunisa.com 