We all belong to one – a demographic tribe.
Australia is one big country of many tribes.
If you don’t belong to the one you don’t survive.
Some are easy to find: it might be your footy team or where you work; the way you vote or the way you dress.
But there’s another set of tribes that are of interest to property investors – the tribes and labels that demographers divide us into.
These include:
Yuppies
This term came around in the 1980s for (Y)oung (U)rban (P)rofessionals and describes someone who is young, possibly just out of university and who has a high-paying job and an affluent lifestyle.
Yuppies are usually the children of doctors and lawyers, hold Master’s degrees from Ivy League universities, and are very concerned with their appearance.
Many were in fraternities and many live in expensive houses or apartments.
Yuppies are what happens to hipsters and preps when they grow up.
Their culture revolves around Starbucks coffee, expensive foreign restaurants, and romantic comedies starring Julia Roberts or Tom Hanks.
Yuppies generally only hold political views that are considered trendy.
Many yuppies go into fields such as politics, big business, public administration, medicine, and law.
You may have worked for one.
Dinks
Double Income, No Kids.
A household status for a couple who both make money and don’t have to spend it on young.
Snag
It was cool to be a Sensitive New Age Guy in the 1990s, and then there was the…
Wag
Wives and Girlfriends – notably of sporting stars.
More lately there have been…
Kippers
Kids in Parents Pockets Eroding Retirement Savings in other words adult children living with their parents.
The theory goes that boomers were raised by the strict Depression generation and who, later in life as parents, were therefore prone to indulge their own children, often at the expense of compromising their retirement savings.
Nearly 1 in 4 (23%) people aged 20-34 continue to live in the parental home. In Sydney and Melbourne, this figure is even higher (27%).
And it’s not just those in their 20’s. In Australia, there are 117,547 people in their early 30’s still living at home with their parents (8% of Australians aged 30-34).
The most common reasons for staying are financial issues and the convenience associated with living with parents.
Nettels
Not Enough Time To Enjoy Life – these are the very busy couples and families, usually found in the capital cities burdened with a large mortgage, a relatively expensive lifestyle, and a long working week – often with a long commute as well.
One reason the NETTELS are working so hard is that they have KIPPERS still living at home and costing them money.
Twits
Teenage Women in their Thirties are women who behave like teenagers.
Just like teens, they obsess over the latest trends.
They organise girls’ nights out, get hooked on online social networking, and spend up big on retail therapy.
Victoria Beckham and Pink are celebrity examples.
Boomerang Kids
Generation Y are increasingly likely, once they have moved out of the home – to move back there again.
Of Australians aged 25-29 who live in their parental home, more than half of these (54%) have moved out and returned again.
Most (52%) last less than 2 years before moving back to the parental home with 20% lasting less than 1 year.
16% last more than 4 years before returning home.
Indeed, many Gen Xers and Yers are returning to the parental home with their own young children in tow according to demographer Mark McCrindle.
Baby Boomers
There are no precise dates for when this cohort starts or ends.
Demographers typically use birth dates ranging from the early-to-mid 1940s and ending from 1960 to 1964.
Increased birth rates were observed during the post–World War II baby boom, making the baby boomers a relatively large demographic cohort.
As a group, baby boomers were the wealthiest, most active, and most physically fit generation up to the era in which they arrived, and were amongst the first to grow up genuinely expecting the world to improve with time.
They were also the generation that received peak levels of income; they could therefore reap the benefits of abundant levels of food, apparel, retirement programs, and sometimes even “midlife crisis” products.
The increased consumerism of this generation has been regularly criticized as excessive.
Sandwich Generation:
This is a generation of people (usually Baby Boomers) who care for their aging parents while supporting their own children.
This sandwich generation arises from the combined trends of delayed childbirth, the delayed financial independence of children, and the increasing life expectancy of the older generation.
The Downagers:
These are Australians aged over 60 for whom age is just a number and feel and act far younger than their age would suggest.
They are the fastest-growing segment of the 60+ demographic and value travel, lifestyle, and social connection, and they adapt quite easily to new technology.
Silver Stylers:
These are the 7% of Australians aged over 65 who can be described as having a high net worth and are sophisticated, cosmopolitan retirees who are the antithesis of the traditional pensioner.
According to social researcher Mark McCrindle the Silver Stylers have options, recognise quality, and as well-travelled, educated, and experienced seniors, they don’t look like retirees used to.
While there are only about 200,000 Silver Stylers in Australia, they are a fast-growing cohort with their numbers swelling as the Baby Boomers enter their ranks.
Do you belong to one of these tribes?
I’d be interested in your comments below.
