Survey shows 54% of 18–34-year-olds are delaying baby plans

New research shows more than half of young people are delaying starting a family due to cost-of-living pressures.

Transcript

00:00 This research was conducted by data analyst Redbridge Group and they found that 54% of

00:07 18 to 34 year olds are delaying the idea of starting a family due to financial reasons

00:14 and the increased cost of living. Redbridge Group surveyed around 2000 young Australians

00:21 and they say that many responded to them saying that they've got hex debts of around $100,000

00:27 and they're not even anywhere near thinking about having a baby. There's also concerns

00:32 about rental affordability and stable work environments and the government says that

00:38 they would like to see the birth rate higher than what it currently is which is 1.6 and

00:45 at the moment that's well below the replacement rate of 2.1 babies. However they do say that

00:52 they believe that the measures contained in the recent federal budget should improve cost

00:57 of living pressures and help young Australians make that decision to start a family. We've

01:03 also seen the Fair Work Commission just yesterday announce a 3.75% increase in the basic minimum

01:10 wage. However for business owners like Corrina LaDelpha who runs Loomis Bakery in McKinnon

01:18 in Melbourne's south eastern suburbs she says that this is actually going to cause even

01:22 more problems for her just being able to meet the bottom line and she says that that in

01:28 fact is even further indication that they're going to have to delay starting having a family

01:33 with her husband and she's really relying on the community support to help her business

01:38 which is less than a year old be able to survive. How do you get people to walk through the

01:44 door doing advertising and everything that we can we just have to trust the process.

01:49 We would have to keep working in the business we're hoping to try for a baby you know and

01:54 then we have to keep saving to try and buy a new house but we wouldn't be able to because

01:58 we have to absorb these costs personally. Analysts say this has big implications for

02:04 the future of Australia's economy in terms of productivity and growth as well as Australia's

02:10 ageing population and without those steady levels of migration there's real concerns

02:16 about the future tax base as well and they also say that there is a concern that while

02:22 people delay having children that means that they're less likely to have more children

02:27 in their families so there'll be fewer offspring as a result of the delay and that's also going

02:34 to have implications on the tax base. Now we have also heard from Redbridge Group that

02:39 this data shows that a staggering 60% of young people aged 18 to 34 are delaying getting

02:47 needed medical treatment for financial reasons, just under half of them are delaying getting

02:52 married and around 70% are delaying buying their own home.

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