By Shane Rodgers
Barely half of Australians have any weekly in-person contract with family and friends, a new social snapshot has revealed.
The ABS Social Survey, released today, showed only 53 percent of households mixed weekly with family and friends, compared with 68 percent in 2019.
The results suggest the forced isolation from the COVID pandemic may have been a social circuit breaker that has still to be reset.
This change was coupled with a fall in overall life satisfaction. In 2025 the overall satisfaction rating for adult Australians was 7.1 out of 10.
This compared with 7.5 in 2019 and 7.6 in 2014.
The COVID years also seem to have impacted voluntary work. Only 23 percent of people did voluntary work in 2025 compared with 30 percent in 2019.
Housing shortages and the resulting immigration debate appear to be changing attitudes around mixed cultures.
In 2020, 85 percent of people thought it was good for society to be made up of different cultures, but this fell to 75 percent last year.
“More households experienced financial stress in 2025, with increases in dissaving, cashflow problems and financial exclusion compared with 2020 and 2019,” the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said in a statement.
“A quarter of households experienced a cashflow problem in 2025, an increase from 21 percent in 2020 and 22 percent in 2019.”
More than 34 percent of Australians often felt rushed for time, similar to 33 percent in 2020, but down from 40 percent in 2019.
“On average, women continue to feel the strain more than men, with 38 percent reporting they felt rushed for time compared with 30 percent of men,” the ABS said.
Only 50 percent of Australians agreed that most people could be trusted, down from 61 percent in 2020 and 55 percent in 2019. Trust in the healthcare system, police and justice system also declined.
For more information, click on the General Social Survey.
