The 2026 Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Annual Statistical Report has been released, revealing how the lives of Australians have changed since 2001 across areas including income, employment, family life and wellbeing.
Drawing on data collected from 2001 to 2024, the report provides a snapshot of the social and economic trends shaping Australia.
Among its findings:
- Half of Australian workers are over-educated for their job
- Life-partner relationships are very strong
- Food insecurity increased in 2024, affecting more than 1 in 6 Australians aged 15 and over
- Half of 18-29 year olds now living at home with their parents
- Employment is high, but people are stressed about housing and money
- Fatigue increases across the country, younger people report worse health
The largest longitudinal study of its kind in Australia, the HILDA survey follows the same group of around 17,000 people year-on-year, building a unique picture of how life in Australia is changing over time.
The 2026 report focusses on a range of topics, including labour market mismatches, relationship quality, cognitive ability, housing affordability and financial stress.
"This year's HILDA report shows both the joys and the challenges of life in the modern-day world," said Dr Inga Lass, lead author of the report.
"The post-pandemic shock to cost-of-living is clear, and we saw more people reporting an increase in fatigue, stress about their housing situation, and difficulties putting food on the table,"
"At the same time, we've seen a big rise in the number of people, particularly women, earning a university degree, a new high for employment, and big numbers of Australians rating the quality of their relationship with their partner very highly."
Australian workers are better educated and overqualified for their jobs
More than half of Australian women aged 25-44 now hold a university degree, with men's educational attainment also growing. In every age group below 65, women were on average found to be considerably better educated than men.
The survey also found that 1 in 2 working Australians feel overeducated at work, meaning they say they have more education than they believe their job requires. This dynamic is often associated with lower job and life satisfaction, as well as an increased likelihood of quitting.
Workers under 25 were the most likely to report feeling like they held qualifications higher than their job required.
A quarter of people also reported feeling overskilled, and therefore not able to use the full range of their skills at work.
"With 50% of Australian workers reporting they believe they are overeducated for their role, we're exactly where we were in 2012. This suggests that the labour market has broadly kept up with increasing educational levels, with the number of jobs that require bachelor's or master's degrees growing the fastest, and jobs that require a maximum of Year 11 of schooling or less education declining," said Dr Lass.
The report also highlights a particular demographic that is being left behind.
"Men aged 25 to 44 who did not complete Year 12 have become less likely to be in full-time work and more likely to be outside the labour force. Their full-time employment rate fell from 70% in 2001 to 63% in 2024, while the share outside the labour force rose from 12% to 22%," said Dr Kyle Peyton.
Life-partner relationships very strong
Most Australians feel their relationship with their partner is very strong, with men consistently reporting higher relationship satisfaction scores than women.
The average perceived quality of relationship across the country was 4.3 out of 5 points, with couples in newer and longer-term relationships reporting higher scores than those in medium-term pairings.
"There's a clear U-curve in the perceived strength of a relationship after a couple move in together. On average, it feels very strong at first, with that rating slowly declining for 24 years, before it picks back up. After that, the relationship quality continues increasing year-on-year, eventually surpassing where it started," said Dr Lass.
Couples caring for children, living with disability or experiencing financial stress tend to report lower relationship scores.
"When you think about the trajectory of a relationship, there's a good chance that potentially stressful factors like work, bills and raising children start to ease around the 25-year mark, allowing couples to prioritise their relationship."
An equal division of housework, child care and earnings were significant predictors of stronger relationship quality.
Food insecurity increases, affecting more than 1 in 6 Australians
Eighteen per cent of HILDA respondents aged 15 and older experienced food insecurity in 2024, up from 13.7% in 2020.
Single-parent families are at the most risk of food insecurity, while disability, poor health (particularly mental health) and smoking were also shown to be strong predictors. First Nations people and families with children under 10 are also at higher risk.
"Food insecurity is one of the most vital measures we have for disadvantage, because it shows, in practical terms, just how many people are struggling to access one of the essentials of life," said Professor Roger Wilkins.
"Not only are 18% of Australians aged 15 years and over struggling to put food on the table, the data also show just how persistent it is. Half of the people who were facing food insecurity in 2020 were still facing it in 2024."
The most commonly reported events of food insecurity were being unable to eat healthy and nutritious food, only being able to eat particular kinds of food, and the person eating less than they thought they should.
Employment at record high, but more people suffering financial and housing stress
Stagnant wages and the increased cost of living cancelled out any improvements in the employment rate in 2024, increasing the number of Australians in financial and housing stress.
"We've seen big jumps in the proportions of people facing housing stress. In 2024, it affected 23% of private renters across the country, and that number is very similar for those in social housing. We've seen much smaller shifts for owners with a mortgage, but with 9.6% experiencing housing stress in 2024, it's the highest proportion it's been since 2017," said Professor Wilkins.
2024 saw employment rates reaching highs not seen in HILDA data before, with 84.4% of men and 76.0% of women aged 18-64 employed.
The hourly gender wage gap reached 10.2%, the second-lowest level since 2001. Some large gender disparities remain however, with 43% of women working full-time, compared to 70% of men.
"Employment rates have jumped dramatically, particularly for women, since the survey started in 2001. However, our earnings are not rising enough to keep up with the big increases in housing costs and other non-discretionary spending, so the average person is likely to be under more financial pressure," said Professor Wilkins.
Housing costs increase, more young adults staying at home
Rising costs have led to many Australians spending more than the benchmark of 30% of their disposable income on housing in 2024.
"Housing costs rose sharply after 2021. By 2024, 36% of renters and 30% of mortgage holders in Australia's five mainland capital cities—Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide—were spending more than 30% of their disposable household income on housing," Dr Peyton said.
Over the same period, the proportion of Australians aged 18 to 29 living with their parents rose from 39% in 2001 to 50% in 2024."
Age is the biggest factor in cognitive decline
Our brains' capacity to complete processing and memory tasks is still tied the most closely to our age, with level of education, labour force status and mental health also factoring but in smaller amounts.
The HILDA Survey has included two cognitive-ability tasks sporadically since 2012, allowing researchers to track how well different demographics have performed over time.
"Across the board we saw cognitive ability scores decline as people aged, with age being by far the biggest factor affecting an individual's score since 2016," said Dr Ferdi Botha.
"Interestingly, men and women performed about the same in the test that measures short-term memory. In the processing test however, where respondents have to break a sort of code and match symbols to numbers, women performed better than men in every age group."
Fatigue increases across country, younger people report worse health
This year's report also tracks vitality, a measure covering energy levels and fatigue.
"Across every age and sex group, Australians report less energy and more fatigue than they did a decade earlier, with the largest decline among women aged 25-34," said Dr Peyton.
HILDA also shows substantial declines in self-reported mental health among younger Australians, particularly young women. General health has declined more gradually among younger age groups and remained stable or improved among older Australians.
"The rise in psychological distress predates COVID-19 and has been especially pronounced among girls and young women aged 15 to 24. In 2023, 46% of girls and young women screened in the high or very high distress range, compared with 31% of boys and young men the same age. The gender gap widened from about 7 percentage points in 2007 to 15 points in 2023," said Dr Peyton.
1 in 10 affected by cybercrime
11.6% of Australians experienced a form of cybercrime victimisation in 2024, with almost half of those victims losing money in the process.
The data show women were more likely to be victims of cybercrimes, particularly sexual harassment, and the risk of victimisation increased for everyone with age.
"Almost 12% of us might not seem like a lot, but when you consider how this compares to the prevalence of other crimes, we can see just how commonplace these types of cybercrimes are," said Dr Botha.
About the HILDA Survey
The HILDA Survey follows the story of the same group of Australians over the course of their lives. Launched in 2001, it now interviews more than 17,000 people a year across 9,000 households and grows as families expand.
The HILDA Survey collects information annually on a wide range of aspects of life in Australia, including household and family relationships, childcare, employment, education, income, expenditure, health and well-being, attitudes and values on a variety of subjects, and various life events and experiences.
It is funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services and is managed by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research at the University of Melbourne.
This report was authored by:
- Dr Inga Lass, Senior Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research and Deputy Director (Research) of the HILDA Survey Project
- Dr Ferdi Botha, Principal Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research
- Dr Kyle Peyton, Senior Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research
- Professor Roger Wilkins, Professorial Fellow, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research and Co-Director of the HILDA Survey Project
The raw data for figures throughout the report are available on request.
