Young Australians are barely earning more than previous generations as they rack up much larger student debts and take even longer to pay them off.
Average incomes for 30-year-olds increased by just six per cent from $59,496 in 2012 to $62,987 in 2022, an analysis of tax return data by the e61 Institute found.
Meanwhile, the average HELP debt jumped 45 per cent from $19,485 to $28,260.
Research economist Matthew Maltman said since the Global Financial Crisis in 2008, the wages of those under 40 had grown at less than half the rate of older Australians.
He said a series of factors had slowed wage growth including a shift toward insecure and lower-paying service jobs, underemployment, award jobs and an oversupply of workers for available, high-quality jobs.
Mr Maltman said the oversupply was driven in part by older Australians working for longer, which weakened bargaining power and slowed wage growth.
‘Rising employer concentration and a decline in job mobility may also have weakened young workers’ ability to climb the job ladder and move into higher-paying positions,’ he explained.
Senior research economist Jack Buckley said young Australians were taking on more student debt and taking longer than previous generations to pay it off.
University students are racking up higher debts and taking longer to pay them off as wage growth slows in Australia (pictured, students are seen at Sydney University)
The report found young Australians today were more than twice as likely as their parents’ generation to have a university education (pictured, the University of Sydney)
‘Young people are seeing up to 10 per cent of their income diverted to HELP debt repayments well into their mid-30s, just when many are trying to buy their first home and start a family,’ he said.
Mr Buckley said one way to ease the financial burden on those with HELP debts was to spread their repayments over a longer timeframe.
‘Given that university graduates tend to earn more over their lifetimes, the real issue may not be the size of HELP debts but rather the timing of repayment,’ he said.
The Albanese government has responded to rising student debt by wiping 20 per cent off all student loans from June 1, 2025.
For a young Australian with the average HELP debt of $27,600, this means around $5,520 will be cut from their outstanding balance.
However, the report found most of the benefits of the policy would go to a relatively small group of recent graduates who will likely go on to have much higher lifetime incomes than the average taxpayer.
The report found that many would eventually benefit from an inheritance, with the median recipient of a bequest around 50 years of age.
It predicted the average inheritance would grow nearly four-fold between 2020 and 2050, driven by rising wealth among older Australians and fewer heirs due to long-term declines in fertility.
The report also found young Australians today were more than twice as likely as their parents’ generation to have a university degree. Up to 80 per cent were less likely to drop out of school before finishing Year 12.