Covid-19 Australia: The toll on young Australians revealed in new report

One group of Aussie youth has copped the brunt of job losses, social and educational Covid restrictions, a new report reveals.

Young Australians are in pandemic pain, with nearly half too poor to pay rent and a quarter suffering high anxiety.

A report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) shows 15 to 24-year-olds made up 38 per cent of workers who lost their jobs at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in April last year.

The Australia’s Youth report reveals the impact of Covid-19 on “kidults’’, who are bearing the brunt of job losses, social restrictions and educational disruption.

Teenagers worry most about being isolated from friends and family, disruptions to schooling, and family members catching Covid-19.

Young adults, aged 18 to 24, are “particularly affected with higher levels of anxiety and worry than older Australians,’’ the report states.

Levels of “high psychological distress’’ among young adults soared 21 per cent between 2017 and 2020.

Year 12 student Abby Ranford, 17, studying at her home. Picture: Mark Brake

Two-thirds of young adults felt lonely during the pandemic, compared to a third of older adults.

Self-harm injuries among the under-24s surged 16 per cent in Victoria during the pandemic, the AIHW report states, citing hospital Emergency Department data comparing October 2019 and 2020.

Teenagers suffer the highest rate of sexual assaults of any age group, with girls nine times more likely than boys to be assaulted.

Family violence was to blame for half the physical and quarter of sexual assaults reported to police, the report states.

Lockdowns have robbed casual and gig-economy workers of income, hitting young Australians hardest as they try to leave home, launch careers and start families.

Nearly half could not pay their rent on time at the start of the pandemic, when “housing stress’’ almost trebled from 10 per cent to 28 per cent of young Australians.

National Children's Commissioner Anne Hollonds. Picture: Darren Leigh Roberts

National Children’s Commissioner Anne Hollonds said the pandemic was having a “negative impact’’ on young people’s work, education, mental health and wellbeing.

“Young parents have additional difficulties with housing and support with raising children, while seeking training and employment,’’ Ms Hollands said.

The AIHW report found educational disruptions have been “a cause of concern for both young people and teachers’’.

The report cites research commissioned by the federal government, showing that nearly half Australia’s school students are vulnerable to “negative impacts from learning at home’’.

“Home-based learning is likely to increase anxiety and stress due to the increased isolation and the loss of social connections,’’ it states.

“Many families lack the space, experience time, technology and/or resources to support learning at home.

“These negative impacts are greatly increased for students with low socio-economic status, for those with additional learning needs and for those already at risk of school failure.’’

Nearly 10 per cent of Covid-19 cases detected this year involved young people aged 15 to 24.

Just one of the 910 deaths recorded since the start of the pandemic involved a person in their twenties.

PANDEMIC PAIN

38 per cent of Australians who lost work in April 2020 were aged 15-24

11 per cent of young people are not in education or employment

42 per cent of teenagers say the pandemic has harmed their social connectedness

66 per cent of young adults feel lonely

44 per cent of young renters could not pay their rent on time at the start of the pandemic

21 per cent increase in psychological distress among 18-24s since the start of the pandemic

187 Australians aged 14 to 24 have caught Covid-19 this year

One person in their 20s has died of Covid-19 to date

*Source: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) Australia’s Youth report