Suddenly everyone’s talking about social cohesion.
In the US, Trump’s detractors say his presidency will undermine social cohesion. From immigration and abortion to tariffs and foreign policy, his policies divide the nation.
In New Zealand, there are fears that the ACT Party’s Treaty Principles Bill will damage social cohesion, and the country’s race relations in particular. Former Prime Minister Jenny Shipley has even described it (unwisely) as ‘inviting civil war’.
In Australia, two events over the last twelve months have challenged social cohesion. The first was the unsuccessful referendum to insert an Indigenous ‘Voice’ into the Australian constitution. Race and politics are a dangerous combination.
The second event was the Hamas attack on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza and Lebanon. The presence of significant Jewish and Muslim communities in Australia has made the Middle East conflict a domestic Australian problem. Antisemitism and Islamophobia have risen sharply.
However, the release this month of the 2024 Mapping Social Cohesion Report suggests that the greatest threat to social cohesion in Australia is the economy. Or more specifically the cost-of-living and housing ‘crises’.
The report is produced by the Scanlon Foundation in conjunction with the Australian Multicultural Foundation and Australian National University. It is based on a survey in July and August of more than 8,000 respondents. They were asked a series of questions about attitudes towards, and perceptions of, a wide range of indicators of social cohesion, such as political participation, sense of belonging, trust in various institutions, and pride in the Australian way of life and culture.
The survey is especially useful because Scanlon has been measuring social cohesion in Australia for nearly twenty years.
The picture presented is a sobering one.
The Scanlon Index of Social Cohesion, 2007 to 2018 (telephone surveys) and 2018 to 2024 (online and telephone)
Source: Scanloninstitute.org.au
The data indicates a decline in social cohesion of 20% over the survey period, with the steepest drop occurring since 2020.
One of the key findings is the role that economic issues play in undermining social cohesion. Scanlan CEO Anthea Hancocks concludes that
… cost of living pressures continue to impact many in society, and these pressures have a negative impact on trust in government and institutions, one’s sense of worth and belonging, and our preparedness to participate in society’
People experiencing financial difficulties are also ‘more likely to have negative views on migrants and multiculturalism’.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Australians retain a high degree of trust in community and public services but exhibit weaker trust in government and media. Declining trust in government, a worldwide phenomenon, does not augur well for the future of liberal democracy.
The impact of the cost-of-living crisis and the housing crisis is reflected in what Australians see as the country’s biggest problem.
The most important problem facing Australia and the world today, most commonly cited, Life in Australia, 2024
Source: Scanloninstitute.org.au
As one of Bill Clinton’s advisers famously said back in 1992, ‘it’s the economy stupid’. That’s not good news for the current Australian federal government which faces an election by May next year.
This month has also seen the release of the 2024 Australian Unity Wellbeing Index report. This is the result of research into wellbeing undertaken by Australian Unity and Deakin University. The Index has been produced for more than two decades.
Again, the trend is not encouraging.
Source: Australianunity.com.au
As with social cohesion, wellbeing has declined steadily over the last twenty years. The similar trajectories are not surprising given that many of the factors that undermine social cohesion – financial hardship, a reduced sense of belonging, and the loss of trust in institutions – are relevant to a person’s sense of wellbeing.
The Australian Unity Wellbeing report has specific data on the link between personal wellbeing and two measures of a person’s financial position – home ownership and income.
Source: Australianunity.com.au
Clearly, home ownership is a significant factor in personal wellbeing. Therefore, it’s a concern that (i) the rate of home ownership in Australia has declined over the last twenty years and (ii) the age at which Australians acquire their first home is rising steadily. That partly explains why Australians’ satisfaction with life is in decline.
This data points to an often-overlooked threat to social cohesion – the anger of younger Australians priced out of the housing market towards older Australians who are homeowners and have benefitted enormously from the rise in house prices over the last thirty to forty years.
If the Australian government wants to improve social cohesion and personal wellbeing, it needs to urgently address the current housing crisis. Unfortunately, doing so means grappling with a host of tricky political issues including immigration, tax policy, land zoning, ‘nimbyism’, inflation, and interest rates.
Source: Australianunity.com.au
There’s a strong positive correlation between higher incomes and personal wellbeing.
Who says money doesn’t buy you happiness.
Therefore, it’s a statement of the obvious but one way for the government to increase Australians’ wellbeing is to increase their incomes. There are several ways of doing that including increasing borrowing and/or taxes to fund higher welfare payments, but that just raises other difficulties.
The only sustainable long-term solution is to increase productivity. As economist Paul Krugman put it, ‘productivity isn’t everything, but in the long run, it’s almost everything’.
Achieving productivity gains in a mature economy like Australia is difficult. But given the resulting gains in wellbeing and social cohesion, it’s worth the effort.
*Ross Stitt is a freelance writer with a PhD in political science. He is a New Zealander based in Sydney. His articles are part of our 'Understanding Australia' series.
7 Comments
The solution is to have policy that properly rewards those that are actually productive (workers) and doesn’t reward people that contribute nothing to society, creaming it at the cost of everyone else (parasitic specuvestors). Productivity increases, tax take increases, public services and infrastructure improve -> social cohesion improves
Interesting that in a time of plateauing or falling life expectancy, and exploding obesity and mental health issues that "health" is of the lowest concern in Australia and globally.
I spose it's like how people fear death by shark attack, plane crash or murder, when cancers and heart related issues are way more likely to take you out.
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