The first findings from the 2021 Census have revealed that Baby Boomers, currently aged between 57 to 75 years, are the generation most likely to volunteer and provide unpaid assistance to others.
This is great news for the retirement and aged care sector, with volunteers badly needed.
More than three out of every five (62.9 per cent) people aged 65-plus reported having at least one long-term health condition. Women were more likely to report a long-term health condition than men, with 34 per cent of females having one or more long-term health conditions compared with 30 per cent of males.
Males most commonly reported asthma and mental health conditions, while the most commonly reported long term health conditions reported by females were arthritis and mental health.
Women made up almost half the paid workforce in Australia in 2020, compared to around 30 per cent in 1966. Women were also more likely to continue to work as they got older compared with earlier years.
The employment-to-population ratio for 65-year-old women in 2020 (35.6 per cent) was more than three times higher than similar aged women in previous years (less than seven per cent in 1980, and around 10 per cent in 1966 and 2000).
Generation gap
The nation, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Census, is also undergoing a significant generational shift.
Baby Boomers and Millennials, currently aged between 26 to 41, each have over 5.4 million people, with only 5,662 more Baby Boomers than Millennials counted on 10 August 2021.
Over the last 10 years, the Millennials have increased from 20.4 per cent of the population in 2011 to 21.5 per cent in 2021. In the same time, Baby Boomers have decreased from 25.4 per cent in 2011 to 21.5 per cent in 2021.
Millennials and Baby Boomers report quite different religious affiliations, with nearly 60 per cent of Baby Boomers reporting a Christian religious affiliation compared to 30 per cent of Millennials. More than 45 per cent of Millennials reported that they had no religion compared to 30.7 per cent of Baby Boomers.
Millennials are of working age and are upskilling, representing 40 per cent of people attending vocational education, including TAFE, and 48 per cent of people serving in the regular service in the Australian Defence Force.
7.5 per cent of the population is 75 years and over.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) said in November last year that, on 30 June 2020, there were an estimated 4.2 million older Australians (aged 65 and over), with older people comprising 16 per cent of the total population.
The median age of all Australians remains at 38 years in 2021. Males make up 49.3 per cent of the population, with a median age of 37 years, and females make up 50.7 per cent, with a median age of 39 years.
AIHW said it is projected by 2066 that older people will make up between 21 per cent and 23 per cent of the total population.
Another interesting snippet from the 2021 Census: the proportion of residents who were born overseas (first generation) or have a parent born overseas (second generation) has moved up to 51.5 per cent.
