Relentless cost-of-living pressure, rising interest rates, uncertainty about the direction of the economy and growing concern about inequality has undermined Australia’s sense of social cohesion, according to authoritative new research.
After a polarising voice referendum campaign and amid rising community tensions over the war in the Middle East, the latest Mapping Social Cohesion Report puts the Scanlon-Monash Index of Social Cohesion at its lowest ebb since the survey began 16 years ago.
The social cohesion index provides a barometer of social wellbeing, measuring belonging, worth, participation, acceptance and rejection, social inclusion and justice. The measure declined by four points over the past 12 months, hitting the lowest result on record. Since November 2020 – the peak of social cohesion recorded during the Covid-19 pandemic – the index has plummeted 13 points.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Relentless cost-of-living pressure, rising interest rates, uncertainty about the direction of the economy and growing concern about inequality has undermined Australia’s sense of social cohesion, according to authoritative new research.
The 2023 snapshot, released on Wednesday, draws on a survey of more than 7,000 Australians augmented by qualitative interviews with people who have migrated to Australia.
The research shows Australians are preoccupied principally with their stretched household budgets, housing affordability and the state of the economy.
Two-thirds (66%) of single parents surveyed say they are just getting by, and 40% of the cohort report rent or mortgage stress, skipping meals and foregoing medicines.
While institutional trust has crashed from pandemic highs, current levels remain higher than during the decade of leadership coups in Canberra, where the average was 29%.
He says neighbourhood and community connections help people navigate “difficult times” but the Israel-Hamas war could “drive a wedge between specific groups”.
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