Bridge the divide

It used to be called the Generation Gap.

It basically meant that older people didn’t like or understand the music that younger people listened to, or they didn't approve of the fashion of the day.

But in Australia today, you have Millennials and Gen Z-ers throwing around ‘OK Boomer’ and ‘Karen’ memes at older Australians. And then you have later Gen X-ers and Baby Boomers worrying that the younger generation are frittering away their money on smashed avocado on toast. Many grandparents report not being able to talk to their own grandkids about big issues, like climate change and immigration. 

The gap is becoming a chasm. This has implications for every generation. Especially future ones.

Younger generations feel locked out of the opportunities that other generations have had; particularly access to housing and secure employment, exacerbated by cost-of-living pressure and student debt.

Older generations are also feeling disengaged. Many Baby Boomers and even some early Gen X-ers can feel excluded by much of today’s technology and social media. 

The way generations engage with our democracy is also different. Young people are less likely to contact a politician, but more likely to attend a protest; less likely to keep up with policy issues, more likely to educate themselves about political issues.

This growing divide and tension between younger and older people is putting pressure on the generational bargain. Working age Australians are having to contribute more to support older Australians. 

Older Australians are more likely than younger Australians to think that part of the problem is people not saving enough and spending on luxury items. But young people point to reports that show it’s the older generations who are continuing to spend, while they’ve tightened their purse strings due to the cost of living crisis.  

And for the first time the evidence suggests that those born in the 1990s may not be better off than previous generations. 

However, there’s more to the picture; there is more in common than we might think. 

For example, there is strong agreement between generations on what the big issues facing Australians are, including the vexed issue of housing. 

Not only do the generations agree that housing affordability is getting worse for those trying to buy a property and renters, older Australians are the most worried about the housing market and about their family being better off in the future.   

And older Australians are the most worried about the future.  

Uncommon ground.

We need to find uncommon ground between all generations.

Uncommon ground is that place where unexpected commonalities exist and connections in unexpected people and places. Where different points of view come together, allowing communities, institutions and governments to collaborate and find unexpected solutions.

If the generational divide becomes entrenched and can’t be bridged, the divisions risk fraying the social fabric further. 

To make a difference, and bring about the change we so clearly need, we must act now, and we must act together. Because, exclusion, division, disengagement and indifference have all proven themselves not to work.

The Australian community has identified this Intergenerational Divide as one of four key problems - along with a lack of trust in our politicians, a lack of vision among politicians, and polarisation - confronting our democracy today, and into the future. 

We encourage you to read about all four to get a deeper understanding of these problems and join the Amplify Community now.

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