Australians are experiencing a surge of psychological distress, with loneliness rising sharply among young people during the pandemic, a new study has revealed.
The annual Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (Hilda) report examines data gathered between 2001 and 2021 by tracking more than 17,000 people in more than 9,000 households.
The latest report reveals how the second year of the Covid-19 pandemic shaped life in Australia.
“The data can tell us about the antecedents and consequences of life outcomes, such as poverty, unemployment, marital breakdown and poor health because we can see the paths that individuals’ lives took prior to those outcomes and the paths they take subsequently,” said the study’s lead author, Prof Roger Wilkins.
Psychological distress rising
Initially, the incidence of distress remained relatively constant until 2011. Since about 2013, however, there has been a consistent upward trend in the proportion of Australians experiencing psychological distress, and in 2021 28.9% of females and 22.7% of males were in distress.
Across all age groups, there has been a general rising trend in the percentage of people in psychological distress, although the overall incidence of distress tends to be lower among older age groups, with the youngest age groups (15- to 24-year-olds) reporting the highest average distress scores in 2021.
Almost half (42.3%) of people aged 15-24 were psychologically distressed in 2021, up from 18.4% in 2011.
In the 15 years between 2007 and 2021, the percentage of females who were psychologically distressed was higher than the percentage of males. For males, the prevalence of psychological distress increased by roughly 51% between 2007 and 2021, whereas among females the prevalence of distress increased by about 63% over the same period.
For each additional $10,000 increase in annual disposable income, the likelihood of psychological distress declined on average by 0.1 and 0.2 percentage points for females and males, respectively.
Loneliness higher among younger people
Although the prevalence of loneliness in Australia has declined slightly over the 20-year period, it increased in younger Australians aged 15-24 over the Covid-19 period.
Between 2001 and 2009, the greatest proportion of lonely people was among those aged 65 and older. Since 2001, however, loneliness among this age group steadily declined, and in 2021 the 65 and over age group contained the lowest proportion of lonely individuals of all age groups.
With the exception of the 15 to 24 age group, all age groups had a lower proportion of lonely people in 2021 than in 2001.
“There is a clear trend of younger people becoming lonelier and feeling more isolated as time goes on,” said a co-author, Dr Ferdi Botha.
Loneliness increased in the first two years of the Covid pandemic, but for young people, a longer-term increase is apparent. It may be that this is connected to growth in smartphone and social media use, he said.
“If there aren’t actions taken or policies implemented to intervene, we may see loneliness and psychological distress increasing in the younger generations and this may lead to lower mental and physical wellbeing and other wider societal issues,” he said.
Marriage ‘significantly’ dips
Increasingly there have been fewer Australians tying the knot, with the trend now “significant”, according to the report. There has been a sharp decline in the proportion of married people mirrored by growth in de facto relationships.
For men, the proportion married declined from 56.3% in 2001 to 50.3% in 2021, while the proportion in a de facto relationship rose from 9% to 14.7%.
For women, the proportion of married declined from 54.5% in 2001 to 48.2% in 2021, while those in a de facto relationship rose from 8.9% to 14.3%. De facto couples are more likely to separate than married couples.
“We can see lower levels of education are strongly associated with a higher likelihood of separation in both marriages and de facto relationships,” Wilkins said.
“We see people who are unemployed or not in the labour force have a slightly elevated probability of experiencing a breakup in their romantic relationships compared to those who are employed.”
Household economic wellbeing
All family types have exhibited growth in median incomes between 2001 and 2021, with non-elderly couples without children faring somewhat better than other family types.
“Compared to 2001, household incomes are higher, in part because the average tax rate is slightly lower,” Wilkins said.
“Women are taxed a lower rate than men on average, but that is due to lower levels of income earned. Inequality has declined slightly with the arrival of COVID. It was at its lowest during 2020 and increased slightly in 2021, but was still lower than before the pandemic.”
Vaping and e-cigarettes
For the first time, the report includes data about vaping. The 2021 data shows 14.1% of individuals aged 15 and above had tried electronic cigarettes or vaping devices. Men were 2.2 percentage points more likely to use these products than women. Individuals who smoked tobacco also had a 19.3 percentage-point higher probability of vaping compared to people who didn’t smoke.
“Age is a significant factor in e-cigarette and vaping device usage with individuals between the ages of 15 and 19 predicted to have a 13.8 percentage-point higher probability of using these products than those aged 30 to 39,” Wilkins said.
“This means teenagers are far more likely to vape or use e-cigarettes than their parents or teachers.”
People in New South Wales were more likely to use e-cigarettes and vaping devices than people in the other states, as well as people in the Australian Capital Territory.
