'More tribal' By Hugh Mackay

When The Mackay Report was first published 30 years ago, almost 90 per cent of Australians were married by 30.
That figure is now less than 50 per cent, and the divorce rate is 40 to 45 per cent.
Professor Mackay says that has made young Australian adults more connected and more tribal.
"They are using each other as a precious resource for coping with life in an unpredictable world," he said.

"But it's also, as a generation, caused them to adopt the ethos of 'keep your options open', hang loose, wait and see, don't rush into marriage, don't rush into parenthood, don't rush into a religious commitment or a political commitment, don't rush into a mortgage, don't rush into a career."
He also says the birthrate is also producing some unexpected effects.

"We're talking always about becoming an ageing population - we're finally going to have to face what that means," he said.
"It's going to mean in 30-odd years time, a quarter of Australians will be over 65. That's a very different society and there's all sorts of implications of that.
"But the other implication is ... we're producing, relative to total population, the smallest generation of children Australia has ever produced.
"Tough to be a member of that generation. They are going to be over-parented, they're going to be over-protected, cosseted, indulged.
"The 'little emperor syndrome' we saw in China is happening right here."

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