The Future Report

They’re the first generation to be fully born in the 21st Century.

The oldest of them began being born in 2010, the same year Instagram and the iPad launched.

Yes, we’re talking about Generation Alpha – the cohort born between 2010 and 2024.

While the youngest of them are yet to be born, the oldest of them are about to become teenagers.

In today's episode, our host, Ashley Fell, sits down with the demographer and futurist who gave this generation their name, Mark McCrindle, to discuss some significant implications of Generation Alpha's entrance into their teen years.

Recently, the world’s population ticked over 8 billion people.

That’s right. 8. Billion.

We’ve reached this latest billion in record time, and the majority of population growth we've seen has occurred in the last 100 years.

In today's episode, our host, Ashley Fell, sits down with demographer and futurist, Mark McCrindle, to discuss if this historic milestone is an exciting one, or something to be concerned about.

Starting out in your career is a memorable experience.

Often our first foray into paid work can be daunting, exciting, overwhelming and memorable - all at the same time.

The world of work is changing, especially for today’s school leavers, Generation Z.

They are entrepreneurial, career mobile, and could have 18 jobs across 6 careers in their lifetime!

In today's episode, our host, Ashley Fell, sits down with McCrindle's Managing Director, Sophie Renton, to explore some advice and tips on how this new generation entering the workforce can stand out in the future of work.

There are many factors that contribute to our overall health and wellbeing. This can include physical exercise, sleep, sense of satisfaction, sense of meaning and purpose, and how one feels their life is going. Holistically it is often a blend of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspects.

In a a study of employed Australians that McCrindle conducted with Reventure, we found that the majority of employed persons (42%) defined wellbeing as, ‘When I have found balance across my physical, mental, social and spiritual life’.

It’s also pretty evident to us that people’s personal wellbeing has taken a bit of a hit in recent years.

More than one in six Australians say they have never felt part of a flourishing community, and around the same number report feeling lonely “often”.

More than half of Australian teen and twentysomethings say they are living with a long-term mental health condition such as anxiety or depression, and less than half of this age group report strong satisfaction in their life in measures such as a sense of purpose, contentment, personal growth and spiritual wellbeing.

These are some staggering statistics.

In today’s episode, our host, Ashley Fell sits down with social researcher, Geoff Brailey, to discuss some new research insights about the future of faith.

Have you ever kept a diary of how you spend your time?

Well, the Australian Bureau of Statistics has.

They have released their time use study which measured the daily activities of 2,000 diverse households, and of those aged 15 years and over in those households, had them keep a diary over two days and account for all their time.

It’s a pretty fascinating study and reveals a lot about how much time people are spending on work, domestic duties, recreation, and even sleep. It also explores how rushed or pressed for time people feel.

So, in this episode, Ashley Fell sits down with social researcher and futurist, Mark McCrindle to unpack what this study reveals about how we spend one of the most precious things we have – which is our time.

Gen Z and Millennials describe those in their teens, twenties, and thirties today. This life stage is often characterised by the need to keep up with their peers and the culture around them.

As society continues to adapt to changing lifestyles and economic conditions, our team at McCrindle was commissioned by Afterpay to conduct a study about Gen Z and Millennials.

The study sought to determine how and if these generations are re-balancing their spending priorities, lifestyles, and mindsets to keep up with the ever-shifting role that culture - which this report defines as a pursuit of new trends, innovation, experiences, and wellbeing - has on their lives and back pockets.

As you can imagine, it reveals some fascinating insights about what Millennial and Gen Z Aussies are thinking, buying, investing in, and planning for.

So, joining Ashley Fell on the podcast to discuss this report are two McCrindle researchers who worked on this report, Anna Colthorpe and Hannah Butcher.

Avatars. NFTs. Blockchain. Bitcoin. Cryptocurrency. Virtual and augmented reality.

What do all these words have in common? 

They relate to The Metaverse.

While it may have begun as a vague concept, over the last year it has gained immense traction, and many are now calling it the future of the internet. Particularly as it relates to Generation Alpha.

Gone are the days when kids plugged a console in front of a TV and played Mario Kart with their friends in the living room.

Now, they are socialising in the virtual worlds of Roblox and Minecraft, early adaptations of The Metaverse, or Web 3.0 as many are calling it.

In this episode, we are going to unpack what the Metaverse is, how Generation Alpha are already setting the agenda and why it is essential for organisations to understand and engage with the Metaverse if they want to not only exist but thrive in the future.

Joining Ashley Fell to do just that is social researcher and futurist, Mark McCrindle.

Over the last few years, remote work or work-from-home became widespread. This is because it wasn’t something that was just promoted or strongly encouraged. It was mandated.

And it went on for some time. Because of various lockdowns and restrictions, some companies work-ed-from-home, full-time, for years. And possibly still are.

Now, as we (with fingers crossed) say goodbye to lockdowns and work-from-home mandates, workplace leaders have both the challenge and opportunity before them of working out what their new normal will be.

What was mandated and followed through on, has now become a choice.

Will they encourage or even force people back to the workplace? Will they stay fully remote? Or will it be a hybrid? And furthermore, what definition of hybrid will they adopt?

It’s not easy, and it’s not straightforward. But it is important, and that’s why we’ve just released a new report about this topic and why we have the author of that report and Managing Director at McCrindle, Sophie Renton joining us.

Breaking into the housing market is a hot topic amongst today’s younger generations with skyrocketing house prices, the rising cost of living, and low wage growth making it pretty difficult to get a foothold.

So, if younger generations can’t break into the housing market, what sort of impact will this have on their financial aspirations and wealth accumulation?

Joining Ashley Fell to shed some light on this topic is Social Researcher and Demographer, Mark McCrindle.

While the Baby Boomers are currently more active in the workforce for their age than the generation before them, over the next decade we will see a significant changing of the guard as the youngest of the Baby Boomers move past 65 and ease out of the workforce.

When they do, they will leave a very significant knowledge, labour, and leadership gap for the following generations to take up.

But that doesn’t mean a quiet retirement because the Baby Boomers are redefining this life stage and what ageing looks like. Our host, Ashley Fell sits down with social researcher, Mark McCrindle to find out why.