In The Year 2017

Society by Bernard Salt
The Sunday Age Magazine

The year is 2017 and the average Australian family is nearing extinction.

Odd sightings of what was once known as Mum, Dad and The Kids happen in rural areas, although on closer inspection, these are usually blended or one-parent groups. Traditional nuclear-family spotting is a much-favoured pastime of single geeks.

The nuclear family was priced out of our largest cities soon after the turn of the century, replaced quickly by newer, funkier life forms such as the single, the couple, the DINKs and the gay. To some extent, the shift was expected. The family was a lumbering, slow-witted organism: initially, it had only one source of income and up to four mouths to feed, although later versions significantly trimmed the kid content.

As the DINK, couple, single and gay proliferated, the family was flung beyond the outermost edge of the city by a property market where the strongest, the fittest, the richest unashamedly set the agenda. Some families clung on and flourished in McMansion habitats, perched precariously on the urban fringe...

The demise of the family started when the issue of affordable housing surfaced. However, by 2010, Australians let go of the angst, conceded that new life forms had indeed conquered the cities and happily allowed the families to flick off to the provinces...

By 2017, marriage will be regarded by couples as a nice-to-have commitment before the joint taking out of a mortgage.

For many, however, marriage and family formation will remain a 20th century anachronism because the average Australian simply cannot afford to live such an extravagant lifestyle.

Bernard Salt is a demographer and KPMG partner.