Taking the temperature of Australian youth amid the pandemic
Walsh
As Australia emerges from lockdown, research by the Monash Centre for Youth Policy and Education Practice has taken a snapshot of young Australians during the pandemic.
We conducted a survey of more than 500 young Australians aged 18 to 24, and interviewed 30 more about their education, employment, health and wellbeing, finances, housing, justice, safety and risk, citizenship, belonging and inclusion.
The purpose of this 2021 Australian Youth Barometer, launched this week, is to gauge the pressures young Australians have been under. Here are some of the findings.
Health and wellbeing
Just under a third (29%) reported having poor or very poor mental health. This was much higher for non-binary young people. Food security was also an issue during the pandemic, with 21% reporting they had run out of food and were unable to purchase more.
Education and work
Participants spoke positively of their school experiences. For example, an 18-year-old from the ACT said: “The teachers at this school really cared about the students. They spoke to you like you were a person instead of just a number … They let you be you.”
Feelings of school belonging were strong, with teachers playing a key role. Nevertheless, almost one in three interviewees discussed experiences of bullying, discrimination or harassment at school in relation to an aspect of their identity (for example, ethnicity).
Several women and non-binary young people we interviewed noted how gender inequality and the actions of politicians contributed to feelings of being unsafe, excluded and ignored.
“I was doing OK for myself just before COVID. I was bringing in [enough money, but] since COVID, I don't even have enough to pay bills.”
Satisfaction with online learning remained high during the pandemic, but with some ambivalence about how well their education is preparing them for the future.
As one 24-year-old from New South Wales told us: “The conventional education system is not geared towards effective education. We’re trending towards a rote learning system … where they just throw the textbook at you, you memorise the textbook, and they ask you to repeat the textbook, instead of giving you the opportunity to actually think critically, form your own impressions, and apply the knowledge that you've gained.”
Most respondents, even those employed in sectors with a typically high degree of insecurity, (such as retail and hospitality), were satisfied with their jobs and saw them as useful to society (75.3% strongly agreed or agreed).
Housing and finance
Not unexpectedly, most want to buy a house, but young people are concerned about housing affordability. One 21-year-old from Queensland said: “I've had friends that have had to move in with me because it's a hot market for selling at the moment. So the rentals just get sold underneath them, and now so many people are becoming homeless, which is a bit scary.”
Most young people (69%) believe it’s the government’s responsibility to ensure access to affordable housing for everyone. A need for greater government action is a theme running through the findings. For example, 91% want the government to provide more social services. This is highly desired among those with a disability.
Read more: Young people, the pandemic, and the shifting post-school transitions to employment
Managing finances appears to be changing, with 53% of young people using buy-now-pay-later services, despite almost half thinking such services have a negative impact on their financial behaviour.
Others experienced severe financial insecurity, with one 22-year-old telling us: “I was doing OK for myself just before COVID. I was bringing in [enough money, but] since COVID, I don't even have enough to pay bills.”
Another felt like “as a young person specifically, we get the raw deal out of almost everything at the moment, and there’s not a lot for us to cling on to that’s looking good. That can get really, really overwhelming.”
A complex picture
The findings paint a complex picture of young Australians today. They provide windows into wider worlds we all inhabit.
The challenge now is how best to respond to their concerns and build on their strengths. How can we work with young people after the pandemic to build thriving communities?
The Monash Centre for Youth Policy and Education Practice (CYPEP) is undertaking research into the social, political and economic factors that affect young people’s lives. It aim to change the conversation about young people’s futures and work with them, alongside educators and policymakers, to address disadvantage.
About the Authors
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Lucas walsh
Professor, School of Education Culture and Society; Director, Monash Centre for Youth Policy and Education Practice
Lucas is exploring responses to the questions: what does the world beyond school look like for young people and what types of education and training do they need to navigate it? He has been chief investigator on projects for the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, the Australian Flexible Learning Framework, South Australian Government, Western Australian Government, Federal Department of Education and National Curriculum Board (ACARA). Lucas was also Director of Research and Evaluation at the Foundation for Young Australians.
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Bertalan magyar
Research Fellow, School of Education Culture and Society
Bertalan's research interests include sociology and economics of education, education-to-employment transition, education policy and evaluation, sustainable teacher workforce planning, and advanced quantitative and mixed methods research techniques. His research programs involve three main themes: (1) graduate employability concerns affecting post-school life transition of students, with particular attention to post-higher education pathways into work; (2) teacher retention and mobility issues in Australia, with a particular focus on outlining the potentials of professional development programs for smoothing the integration of early-career teachers into the profession; (3) post-school life challenges of young people, with a focus on socio-economic issues that hinder “smooth” work-transitions.
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Beatriz gallo cordoba
Research Fellow, School of Education Culture and Society, Faculty of Education
Beatriz is a research fellow in quantitative data/statistics as part of the Centre for Youth Policy and Education Practice (CYPEP) at Monash University. Her focus is on the study of disadvantage in young people, and how to measure and model it to acknowledge that this is a problem with multiple dimensions and levels. Her research uses large administrative and survey data and statistical analysis techniques such as multilevel modelling to find evidence about inequality between groups, and the potential implications for equity. Beatriz is interested in the study of both existent inequalities and their implications for policy and practice, and the application of measuring and modelling techniques to understanding them. Before pursuing her PhD, she used to work at an economics and finance research centre in Cali, Colombia, where she is from. Her research interlinks methodological and substantive interests. Methodologically, she is interested in understanding how alternative modelling and measurement techniques shed light on specific research problems and influence the conclusions of empirical research. Substantively, her interest is in inequality in educational outcomes, with a focus on ethnic gaps in academic achievement.
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Blake cutler
Research Assistant, Faculty of Education
Blake Cutler is a research assistant with the Monash Q Project. He investigates how research evidence is used in schools, and how to support educators to better use that evidence in their practice. In addition to his work with the Q Project, Blake is a co-investigator on a longitudinal study that explores how we can best support pre-service and early-career teachers to adopt LGBTIQ-inclusive pedagogies. Alongside his research work, Blake is a specialist music teacher at a Government primary school in South East Melbourne.
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Cathy waite
Research Fellow, School of Education Culture and Society, Faculty of Education
Cathy is a research fellow in the Centre for Youth Policy and Education Practice. Her scholarly work is concerned with highlighting the inequalities faced by young people in contemporary Australia, and providing a voice for those on the margins. Her work in the centre aims to inform policy and educational interventions designed to mitigate youth disadvantage, while ultimately helping to improve youth outcomes now and into the future.
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Masha mikola
Senior Research Officer, Education Research Services, Faculty of Education
Masha provides research, professional and administrative support across projects in the area of youth studies. She has a background in migration, intercultural and urban studies. Her publications range from interrogations of national identity through public policy, questions of belonging and social networks in diverse neighbourhoods, embodied practices and migrant placemaking, and investigations of visibility, racism and Islamophobia in Australia. Besides academic roles, Masha worked in community and policy roles, in which she was engaged with a range of community, government, intra-government and NGO stakeholders in the area of health, multiculturalism and education.
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