Five ways Australians' spending, housing and dating habits have changed over the last 25 years
The way Australians live has changed in the last 25 years, as soaring house prices have forced some young people to live with parents longer, and others to move rentals more often.
New research from the e61 Institute breaks down why some Australians are more reluctant to move house, while consulting firm KPMG has looked at how household spending has changed by generation. Each explored data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Here are five ways Australians' lifestyles have changed – and how it's affecting the housing crisis.
Fewer Australians are moving house as often as they did before the 2000s, mostly because young people are more likely to live with their parents, e61 research found.
This is linked to more 18 to 24-year-olds trying to save money, potentially for a deposit, before moving out.
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The trend of living in the family home for longer is also because fewer young people are in relationships, says Nick Garvin, research manager at e61.
'It is possible that housing costs are contributing to this drop in moving out with partners, but we are also seeing a general drop in the number of 18 to 24-year-olds that have a partner at all.'
The percentage of young men and women living with parents increased from 53% and 42%, respectively, in the 1990s to 60% and 53% by the early pandemic years.
Younger Australians entering the workforce are prioritising living on their own, rather than with partners or in share houses, meaning their spend on furniture has increased.
Households headed by 25 to 34-year-olds spent an extra $2,161 each year on appliances and furniture in 2024, compared to 2014, according to KPMG.
Homewares spending rose as a share of that age group's budget, accounting for inflation, according to KPMG urban economist Terry Rawnsley.
'Ten years ago, young people were more likely to be living in a share house and so would be sharing a fridge,' Rawnsley says.
One-person homes accounted for more than 20% of all 25 to 34-year-olds' households in 2024, up from 15% a decade earlier, boosting spending at furniture giants like Temple and Webster.
Rents took up a smaller average share of young households' spending in 2024 than 2014, as people moved away from shared living to smaller one-bedroom apartments with cheaper overall rents, KPMG found.
Falling home ownership and rising rents have forced a growing share of young families to move around more often.
The share of 25 to 44-year-olds moving home in the last 12 months has risen since 2011, in line with the rising share of people who don't own their own home, e61's analysis of census data found.
Garvin says rapid price growth over the 2010s forced younger households to wait longer to save up deposits. Ongoing high prices could see yet more young workers move more often in coming years, he says.
'Renters move far more frequently than homeowners do, so that appears to be what's driving the pickup since 2011.'
Millennials have worse access to housing and a smaller proportion own their own home than gen Xers did at the same age in 2014, ABS data shows.
But those in the 35 to 44-year-old cohort in 2024 are on average spending $12,000 more to pay off home loans than their predecessors did a decade ago, KPMG found.
'There's lower home ownership, but the people who are getting into [homes] are spending more and more of their incomes on housing,' Rawnsley says.
Older Australians with little to no mortgage debt and growing incomes have faced less pressure from the changing cost of living and instead picked up their spending on luxury goods.
Growing numbers of Australians with ongoing work and tertiary qualifications moved into the 55 to 64-year-old bracket from 2014 to 2024, ABS data shows. Separate data shows the median 55 to 64-year-old household's wealth rose from $1m to more than $1.3m from 2014 to 2022.
Rising incomes have gone straight to nonessential purchases such as recreational goods, KPMG says.
Alcohol and cigarettes grew as a share of total expenditure for households in the 55 to 64-year-old group, while all other groups between the ages of 25 and 54 cut back, KPMG found.
Older workers also dedicated more money to dining out, takeaway meals, clothing and footwear.
'These are people who've paid the mortgage off largely, they've got the kids out the door in a lot of cases, and they have that disposable income,' Rawnsley says.
'The younger baby boomers or the older [gen] Xers who might see themselves as having a treat of getting some designer footwear [are upgrading] from just having something on the rack to put on every day.'
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