In utterly demoralising news, the incomes of young Aussies decreased between between 2008 and 2018, while the incomes of everyone older grew – and that’s before we even consider the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.
According to a new report by the government’s Productivity Commission, young Aussies are still bearing the brunt of the Global Financial Crisis back in 2008, which saw the job market become way more competitive in a race to the bottom.
“Young people have experienced a ‘lost decade’ of income growth. This means they entered the COVID-19 crisis already on lower wages and usually with limited savings,” Commissioner Catherine de Fontenay said.
“Young people face discouraging prospects in a tough job market; and there is a danger they will simply give up on their aspirations as they take positions further down the jobs ladder.”
More specifically, wages for people aged 18 to 24 fell by 1.6% annually, while wages for people aged 25 to 34 fell by 0.7 % each year. For every other age group, wages continued to rise year-on-year.
Boomers, perhaps unsurprisingly, have come out of the past decade ahead of the pack. On average, folks over 65 saw their incomes grow a massive 3.2% each year.
Aside from lower wages and reduced hours in the wake of the GFC, other contributing factors mentioned in the report include stricter Centrelink requirements and an increased retirement age, which is keeping older people in the workforce.
The real kicker, according to the report, is that on top of decreasing wages, young Aussies are also set to cough up way more in taxes over their working life as the government tries to recover from the cost of dealing with the pandemic.
No matter what way you look at it, young Aussies seem likely to be fucked over financially for years to come.
