В Австралии запустили исследование «Экономики ускорителей»: пожилые граждане финансируют образ жизни внуков и детей

National broadcaster SBS has launched a new multi-year study on ‘The Booster Economy’ to shed light on intergenerational spending in Australia and the growing trend of ‘everyday inheritances’. The SBS CulturalConnect research showed that amid the cost-of-living crisis a growing number of Australian Baby Boomers and Generation Xers are funding their grandchildren and adult children well beyond help with mortgages. Their support now extends to funding lifestyles more broadly, including cars, holidays, school fees, insurances and petrol. “We hear a lot too about the major shift in wealth that’s set to occur through inheritance in future decades, but the reality is that ‘everyday inheritances’ means that wealth transfer is happening before our eyes,” said SBS acting director of Media Sales Lee Fifoot. “This intergenerational spending multiplier, driven by older Australians, who are the economy’s super-spenders, is why we believe the traditional 25-54s buying demographic is outdated and in many respects is ignoring a significant proportion of the economy.” “We are used to a lens on marketing in which ‘the consumer’ has ultimate decision-making power. In the Booster Economy the reality is far more complex, and marketers need to influence several stakeholders before the purchase can be made,” said SBS CulturalConnect head of strategy Damien Eames. SBS spoke in depth with 50 ‘Boosters’ (parents and grandparents making everyday inheritances), followed by a broader survey of 2,500 Australians. The research found that over 12 million Australians in some way support younger adult family members. Much of the spending is direct purchases, from 34 per cent buying groceries, 30 per cent buying clothes, 18 per cent paying for travel, 18 per cent buying toys, 14 per cent purchasing a car and 14 per cent buying appliances and electronics. This project is the first phase of an ongoing research program that seeks to quantify the scale of the Booster Economy, understand how it is impacting specific categories and how advertisers can tap into it. It will also look at the equity and social implications of the Booster Economy. While some younger Australians’ lives are being supported significantly, others lack this support and indeed often need to support their older family members. The Booster Economy study has joined an expanding range of thought leadership activities from SBS. This will soon include updated tools and thought leadership based on the 2026 Census, including an update to SBS’s Census Explorer. SBS Census Explorer will give Australians new insights into the composition, ancestry and diversity of communities that make up our country. It will follow the release of 2026 Census data next year. For many years, SBS’s Australian Census Explorer has sought to bring to life the data in the five yearly Census as a useful and practical tool for organisations. SBS will also use the data release to focus on gender demographics and languages other than English. “The Census is always an incredibly important moment for SBS,” said SBS director of audio language content David Hua. “We are so excited that the SBS Census Explorer will be back under the SBS Examines banner, giving Australians a clear and trusted lens on how Australia is evolving. “With data spanning four censuses since 2011, the SBS Census Explorer is an incredible resource for our partners to understand even more about the communities of every language spoken and every place across Australia.” The 2026 Census also asks questions about ancestry and for the first time asked questions about sexual orientation and gender identity. “With more than half of Australians born overseas or having a parent who was, and fresh Census data arriving next year, we’re refreshing SBS Census Explorer as a free tool to help marketers understand Australia’s changing communities and consumer behaviours,” said Fifoot. The SBS Australian Census Explorer is driven by the Australian Bureau of Statistics Census 2026 data, while also including data from 2021, 2016 and 2011 for comparison purposes. The new SBS Census Explorer will launch in June 2027 with updates to coincide with the ABS data releases.