Gazing at your sleeping cherub, it’s hard to imagine who she or he will become in the future. Fortunately, demographers are on stand-by to help you form a picture. According to social researcher Mark McCrindle, Generation Alpha – babies born after 2010 – is tipped to become the most influential generation the world has ever seen. In his and Emily Wolfinger’s book, The ABC Of XYZ: Understanding The Global Generations (University of NSW Press, $35.99), he predicts a life very different to their parents.
Money
By the year 2030, the average household income is expected to be $200,000, four times what it is today. Living expenses will also rise exponentially and the retirement age will have increased, with most people working until they are no longer well enough to do so. Fortunately, Generation Alpha will be more cautious about finance, shunning credit cards and large ‘negative’ debt, as well as saving for home deposits early. But it’s also expected they’ll need financial assistance from their parents to be able to buy any housing in Australia.
Education
It’s thought Generation Alpha will be the best-educated children yet, with 90% of students tipped to complete year 12 (compared to 75% today), and almost every one of those students undertaking a university degree (currently one in five Australians are university-educated). And the price of this knowledge? To educate
a Gen Alpha child through to year 12 in the public school system will cost $65,484,
or $206,692 in the Catholic system and just under half a million dollars at a
private independent school.
Relationships
There won’t be much importance placed on marriage by the time Generation Alpha babies reach adulthood. One in three women won’t bother getting married and, of those who do, most will choose to live with their partner first. The average age of marriage for women will be 26. The divorce rate is tipped to remain unchanged from one in three marriages. By about 2020, single-person households will make up a third of all households, with loneliness and depression anticipated to be a problem in the community.
Housing
The current problem of skyrocketing house prices will get worse. Property information provider Residex predicts that by the time Gen Alpha enters their 30s, the average price of a Sydney apartment will be $1.9 million, while a mid-range house will be $2.3 million. Most Alpha kids will continue to live with their parents until their late 20s or early 30s and, since only the ‘cognitive elite’ (whose higher IQ offers more chance of success) will be able to afford to buy, Australia will become a nation of renters.
Population
As Generation Alpha grows old, the global population will exceed 8 billion (from
6.7 billion today). India will surpass China as the most populous country, and the world’s cheap labour will come from Tanzania and Nigeria. Human-robot hybrids are predicted to take over the more menial jobs – by the turn of the century robots will do everything from house-cleaning and dog-walking to building aircraft.
By the time today’s babies are in their 30s, Australia’s population will have increased by about 62%, from 23 million people to more than 37 million people. This will add to workplace and childcare shortages and overburden health and education systems.
Health
Ageing Generation Alpha is predicted to face different health concerns to today’s adults. Specialised vaccines and viral gene therapy will transform cancer from a killer into a manageable disease. However, due to increased sendentary lifestyles, more people will suffer from diabetes, obesity, arthritis, cardiovascular disease and dementia. Alzheimer’s disease, the country’s third largest killer today, will be the number one cause of death.
Families
Today’s mums are unlikely to become young grandmothers, and some may not have grandchildren at all as one in three Gen Alpha women won’t have kids. Those who do are likely to wait until their 30s, with the average age of first-time motherhood expected to top 31. The nuclear family – today’s most common household – will be replaced by the couple with no kids household.
Career
Gone are the days of staying faithful to one employer – or industry. Generation Alpha will grow up ‘job-fickle’, with most people having an average of six careers in their lifetime and lasting only three years in any one job. Also, it’s unlikely they will work in any industry our generation currently recognises. Instead, most jobs will be in design-focused or knowledge-based service industries that depend on data gleaned from customer transactions.
Life expectancy
Life expectancy is currently 84.1 years for females and 79.6 years for males, but Gen Alpha babies – both male and female – can expect to be around for an average of 91 years. It’s even predicted that one in three bubs born to this current generation will live past the age of 100.
