Trends of 2021: McCrindle Research tips kids have ethics more like great-grandparents

A dramatic change in outlook from young people, a national obsession with camping and big changes in schools – experts reckon 2021 will be very different.

A more “practically-minded generation” of young people focused on the employability of their education pathways, is tipped. Picture: iStock

Today’s young people will share more values with their great-grandparents’ generation than any in between, a national research firm says.

National research firm McCrindle has put the spotlight on the work and life habits of Australians in 2020 to predict how the nation will emerge from the experience of COVID-19.

Research principal Mark McCrindle said for young people the global pandemic had changed how many viewed life after school.

“We will end up with a more practically-minded generation who will be thinking about the employability of their education pathways … who value savings and job security,” he said.

“It is probably going to create in this generation the fortitude, resilience and character strength we saw in the generations that lived through the Great Depression and world wars – they will end up a bit like the grandparents we knew who achieved so much … this attitude of delayed gratitude, financial conservatism and valuing a secure pathway.

“ (COVID) has shown them things aren’t guaranteed, that the economy – and life – can be precarious.”

Mr McCrindle said parents, too, had changed their priorities around school life for their kids.

A move away from standardised testing is tipped: Picture iStock

“We surveyed parents and found the majority are happy to move away from standardised testing such as NAPLAN but ATAR,” he said.

“We know a big proportion of students now get into their courses not on their ATAR but on early entry – school nominated, leadership and extra curriculum based entry programs – and we’ve analysis to show that for the class of 2020, this was the highest ever.

“Parents are starting to look at the holistic education of their children not just academic.”

Mr McCrindle said the hybrid approach to work, with a mix of days in the office and at home, would further evolve in 2021.

“We have run a few surveys on this and the majority of Australians who worked from home during COVID say they want a mix with three in five telling us they’d like spend slightly more time in the office than at home, so two days at home, three in the office,” he said.

“I think a day working from home will become the default, the basic standard rather than the exception it used to be.

“However, what we do in the office will be different to the type of work do at home, it will be the team stuff, the culture building, the goal setting, the collaborative work.”

While from a social perspective priorities had also changed, Mr McCrindle said.

“What COVID has done is cause us to re-prioritise and think about their lives differently … it’s brought out a more reflective and introspective side to Australians,” he said.

“In some research we did last year, 47 per cent of people told us they were thinking more about their mortality, with a similar number also reflecting more on the meaning of life and searching more for spiritual outcomes.

COVID has spurred new interest in camping, according to research by McCrindle. Picture: iStock

“We are returning to some of the simple traditions and looking to a future that is not just technological but where human interactions and relationships are a focus.”

To that end, camping is tipped to increase in popularity.

“Retailers tell us if you are trying to buy a camper trail or a boat, even a little dingy, forget about it, they’ve all been snapped up,” Mr McCrindle said.

On Friday, McCrindle Research will explore more trends as part of a virtual event. To register, go to www.mccrindle.com.au/si2021.