Few surprises, if any, came up with the first drop in census data this week. Especially for amateur observers of social trends. Social changes rarely occur quickly.
Some notable exceptions apply here, of course, such as marital equality. But we saw an increase in same-sex marriages, due to the legislative change that allowed it; it was predictable.
The changes in who we are and how we live are generally incremental and can be seen as coming, as things like immigration and population aging undergo a planned or anticipated progression. Trends, after all, point to where social phenomena are going because they show the path that problems have taken over time.
It is not surprising that most Australians have a connection to another country, either by birth or through their parents. India and Nepal emerging among the fastest growing countries of origin was foreshadowed by migration statistics, years in the making.
The size of families was shrinking, single-parent households were increasing, families were being redefined without children, women were still doing Herculean-level housework while being the most skilled of the sexes, owning a home out of reach. most young people and more life in apartments: everything was. next, decades in process. The census says valuable things to help inform policies and practices. But despite its clear signals that Australia is changing and what Australia needs, politics is not keeping pace.
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We are a nation in motion; constantly changing and moving. More protected. This is the nature of humanity. And time. If social change progresses like a turtle, the social policies of this country are like a salt-covered slug bathing in a pool of foam. Made for and useless.
Australians are adapting and finding solutions to difficult problems that government policy fails to address. Multiple families living in the same home, for example, to deal with the accessibility of housing or to avoid the problematic and costly sector of care for the elderly. This adaptation is not due to anything the government is doing, but it is not doing enough.
Census after census of the last 20 years has shown that home ownership has declined. Also, the gender gap in domestic work of more than 15 hours per week has increased since 2006, and women continue to do more unpaid work than men, despite rising labor force participation rates among women. . These topics are not new. However, the data show that the policies that have been put in place to address them have been clearly inadequate.