In the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis and the rising cost of living, there’s a strong relationship between psychological distress and loneliness among Australians, according to the latest Household, Income and Labour Dynamics (HILDA) Survey.
Released today, the survey is a nationally representative longitudinal study of Australian households, showing national trends each year since 2001. The 2025 report presents brief statistical analyses of the first 23 waves of the study, which were conducted between 2001 and 2023.
A key finding measured the loneliness of Australians by asking them how often they agreed with the following statement: I often feel very lonely.
Females and males who are categorised as lonely were significantly more likely to be in psychological distress, compared to those who are not lonely.
The findings also support the idea that social relationships are important for mental wellbeing, such as seeing friends and family often. Among women, psychological distress was seen to be lower for those who saw family and friends at least once a week, compared to those who do so only once every three months or less.
A stronger perception of having more friends is significantly associated with lower psychological distress for both men an women.
Notably, the survey estimates there’s a higher likelihood of people having psychological distress during the past eight years than in 2007, when the HILDA survey first began measuring the experience.
“We have the benefit of more than 20 years of data, which, when you consider everything that’s happened globally, is a long time,” said Dr Inga Lass, lead author of this year’s report.
“This year, we’ve started to see the effects of Australians moving on from the height of the pandemic, feeling the cost-of-living pressures around them and then having to make decisions about their life.”
Other findings covered a broad range of topics, including health, attitudes, employment and income.
Among the rising cost of living, one in eight Australians reported two or more indicators of financial stress in 2023. This is the second-highest rate in nearly 20 years, with single-parent households hit the hardest.
When it comes to childcare, the average Australian family is spending $171 every week, which is nearly $100 more than two decades ago, even while factoring in inflation.
Australia’s total fertility rate — the average number of children a woman will have in her lifetime — has dropped to a record low of 1.5 in 2023. This is especially significant when looking at the fertility rate that’s generally considered the minimum to keep a population stable through natural growth, which is 2.1.
Retirement rates are also falling as 40 per cent of women and 27 per cent of men aged 60-64 reported being retired in 2023, compared to 70 per cent of women and 49 per cent of men in the same age range in 2003.
Community attitudes around parenting and work look to be shifting in Australia, as there’s greater support in the 2005 to 2023 period for raising children in family models other than the ‘traditional’ family, such as having a co-resident father and mother.
Specifically, more people agreed with the statement: It is alright for a woman to have a child as a single parent even if she doesn’t want to have a stable relationship with a man.
Among females, agreement with the statement rose by 32 percentage points among females, from 36 per cent to 68 per cent. For males, it rose by 22 percentage points from 32 per cent to 54 per cent.
The report notes that the trend towards less traditional attitudes among Australians is evident, with one of the largest changes seen from 2001 to 2023 lying in increased support for maternal employment.
Most notably, more Australians disagree with assertions that it’s better for everyone involved if the man earns the money and the woman takes care of the home and children. Rather, there findings show more people agree that a working mother can have as good a relationship with her children as a non-working mother.