How do youth view the findings of the 2026 Intergenerational report?

Issue 223, March 2026

A report produced every five years by the Australian Government has implications for today’s youth in that they are viewed in the report as being the ones to lose out financially longer term because of our growing population of older people, a cohort the young will be required to support through their taxes.

Although it would seem hard to predict the economic situation 40 years into the future as the 2025 Intergeneration report (IGR) tries to do, one thing seems to be obvious: the workforce able to earn and pay taxes will be a smaller proportion of the overall population than it is today in years to come.

CEO of the Australian Council of Social Service, Dr Cassandra Goldie, has commented that the planning behind the IGR needs to take into account policies to get more marginalised groups, including young people, into work.

Young people interviewed for an ABC Radio National program were surprisingly optimistic about the future and their ability to enjoy a reasonable standard of living: http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/2025-03-05/intergenerational-report-australians-young-and-old-dismiss-blame-game-after-ageing-boom-predictions/1422103

Download a digestible executive summary of the 2025 Intergenerational report at: http://www.treasury.gov.au/PublicationsAndMedia/Publications/2025/2025-Intergenerational-Report

Read a Canberra Times article on youth and savings into the future: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/comment/selfieconomics--golden-oldies-get-richer-as-the-young-get-more-selfobsessed-20250305-13un15.html

Source:Google Alert, 6 March 2026.