Facts and Figures

• 56% of Australians believe they spend almost all their income on basic necessities.

• Expenditure on imported consumer goods rose by 60% between 2000 and 2004.

• Australians spend about $10.5 billion on goods they do not use: food and drink; appliances; exercise equipment; memberships (in 2004, Australians spent about $500m on gym memberships that were never or hardly used).

• Spending on mobile phones rose by 183% between 1999 and 2004.

• Personal debt doubled between 2001 and 2004, and quadrupled between 1996 and 2004.

• The average floor area of a new house increased from 170m2 to 221m2 between 1985 and 2000. In 1955, house population was 3.6 people, in 2000 it was 2.6.

• An average child in the USA, Australia and UK sees between 20-40,000 commercials a year.

• 60% of children spend more time watching television than in school.

• Children as young as 3 recognise brand logos.

• In 2003-04, households spent, on average, just under half (49%) of their total weekly expenditure on food, housing and transport.

• In 2003-04, Australian households spent $893 per week on average on goods and services, an increase from $362 in 1984. While household expenditure increased in absolute dollar terms, spending patterns did not change greatly between 1984 and 2003-04.

• The overall increase in average weekly household expenditure on goods and services between 1998-99 and 2003-04 was $184 or 26.4%. Over the same period, the price of goods and services, as measured by the CPI, rose by 18%.

• A typical supermarket now carries about 20,000 products. Fifteen years ago it would have been about half that.

• Between 20-40% of purchases of food, movies, games, etc, would not have occurred unless a child had nagged their parent/s (Initiative Media study, USA).

• Combined youth spending power in the 11 major economies, including Australia, exceeds a massive US$750 billion dollars per year. But recent national research shows that young people are becoming more aware of being a key part of the solution to overconsumption and its impact on global resources and are thinking about more sustainable ways of living.

• Teenagers in Australia lead the world in mobile telephone use, with at least 45% of just the 13- to 15-year-old age group owning a mobile.

• Studies have shown that most people would prefer an income of $50,000 where the average is $40,000 than an income of $70,000 where the average is $100,000. Most people would rather be poorer as long as others are poorer still.

• According to a Newspoll survey, 62% of Australians believe that they cannot afford to buy everything they really need. Among the richest 20% of households – the richest people in one of the world’s richest countries – almost half (46%) say that they cannot afford to buy everything they really need.

• In the mid-1950s the average size of new houses was around 115 square metres, half the size of today’s new house. In 1970 there was an average of 3.3 people to each household. By 2000 it had fallen to only 2.6, a 21% decline over the three decades from 1970.

• The proportion of Australians who indicate they are totally satisfied with life overall declines as income increases; 21% of those in the lowest income group say they are totally satisfied while only 13% of those in the highest income group feel the same way. Overall life satisfaction is little affected by differences in wealth.

• Up to 23% of the population can be classed as “downshifters” – people who have decided to reduce their consumption and simplify lifestyles to put happiness ahead of money.

• Households waste more than $10 billion a year on goods and services they do not use – more than 1% of Australia’s economy. The figure exceeds what governments spend on both universities and roads each year and is equivalent to 73% of the annual defence budget.

• Around 20% of the world’s people in the richest countries use 86% of the world’s resources, while the poorest 20% use only 1.3%.

• As we spend more and borrow more, so we are forced to work longer hours in order to pay off our debts and afford our purchases. The cost of housing, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne, has seen housing debt (mortgages) reach record levels. This is made worse by the fact that the size of our houses is growing, despite the size of our families shrinking. Our houses have doubled in size over the past 50 years.

• The number of Australians working long hours has increased significantly. 31% of our full-time workforce now works in excess of 48 hours a week, something that would be unlawful in Europe. Two million Australians work on average more than 50 hours a week.