Nearly 2.2 million Australians aged 15 and over are living below the wellbeing poverty line, with the share of people reporting very low life satisfaction doubling over the past decade. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing The Guardian.
In 2025, 9.7% of Australians (about one in ten) rated their general satisfaction with life at four or below out of 10, according to Guardian Australia's analysis of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) general social survey. That compares with 4.8% in 2014. The initial surge of dissatisfaction came during 2020's Covid lockdowns and has persisted amid soaring cost of living.
The ABS data echoes other surveys, such as Westpac's consumer confidence index, which has languished at around 50-year lows since the pandemic. Amid an explosion of support for far-right and populist politics, those with low life satisfaction are more likely to feel alienated and disempowered, and express lower support for multiculturalism.
Only 15% of people experiencing wellbeing poverty feel they have a say on important matters affecting their communities, compared to the average of 32% across all Australians. Among those reporting life satisfaction of nine or above, that figure rises to 46%.
As One Nation leader Pauline Hanson advocates for a "monocultural" society, ABS data show just over 60% of people in the lowest life satisfaction group agree that a society composed of different cultures is a good thing. That is far below the average of 80% among Australians, and nearly 90% among those with highest life satisfaction.
National living standards, as measured by household disposable income adjusted for inflation, are at the same level as mid-2020. Analysts expect the economy to drop back into a per capita recession amid stagflation.
Shane Oliver, AMP's chief economist, said lower-income households had been hit hard by rising prices for essentials like electricity, insurance and healthcare. "Consumer confidence seems to be chronically stuck around recessionary levels," Oliver said.
Guardian Australia has previously reported that wages for the highest paid workers over the past decade grew at more than twice the pace of those earning the least. Oliver also pointed to literature on the economics of happiness, noting that life satisfaction does not track higher with material wealth past a certain middle-income threshold.
Oliver said the plunge in life satisfaction likely relates to thwarted hopes, particularly dwindling hopes of home ownership. "I suspect housing is the single biggest problem. If we managed that issue better, that would go a long way to addressing this issue," he said.
Anthea Hancocks, CEO of the Scanlon Foundation Research Institute, said economic circumstances have a big impact on social cohesion. "If you feel like nobody cares and you don't really matter, then that would make you feel like you can't trust other people or institutions. And that tends to lead to not participating in their community," she said.
Hancocks noted that social media has had "a huge impact" on Australians' lives. Despite dissatisfaction and financial pressures, she said social cohesion has remained resilient. Scanlon's social cohesion index has stayed steady at 78 over the past three years, though below the peak of 92 in 2021.
Hancocks said connecting people to their neighbours and community is key to lifting life satisfaction. "We know that regardless of your economic circumstances, if you live in a highly cohesive neighbourhood, then your level of happiness doubles," she said.