Intergenerational Report: Three generations look to future from differing angles

Just as the Intergenerational Report tries to look 40 years into the future, so too do three generations of the Mau family.

Three generations: Marculina, Marley Mau and Ollie Mau at their Darwin home. Picture: Rebecca Booth

Just as the Intergenerational Report tries to look 40 years into the future, so do three generations of the Mau family.

And like the IGR, what they see is worrying and uplifting.

For Ollie Mau, the next four decades will see him move into retirement, his mother Marculina, 64, into old age, and his daughter Marley, 14, into the workforce.

With the national budget set to be under pressure for decades as it looks to service an ageing population, he said it was difficult to look too far ahead.

“Our biggest concerns are financial, just making sure there’s enough to provide the care for my daughters and parents that’s suitable,” he said.

Yet he did have some trepidation about the world his children were heading into as adults. “I think technological advancements, climate change, and the uncertainty with what’s going on politically here and around the globe will be among my daughters’ biggest challenges,” he said.

The IGR notes the ageing population will require more spending and more care workers in the future.

Marculina said her focus had shifted more towards her health as she has aged, especially after living through the pandemic but as a migrant who escaped war-torn Timor-Leste, another priority was safety.

Her grandkids were also top of her mind as she contemplated the coming decades. “I’m hoping (young Australians) can get their trades, work and feel fulfilled,” she said.

And where does Marley think her life might head over coming decades? Being a pilot, or a Matilda, she says – as long as she can go on lots of holidays.

She cited crime, climate change and money as her biggest worries entering adulthood. “I just want to have enough money that I can do the things I like to do,” she said.

“(I want) to be able to support my friends and family in the same way they supported me.”

Marley said there was much to learn from the generations before and the challenges they faced: “We can learn … and not make the same mistakes.”