There are a great many single adults who would very much like to have a family of their own. With rates of marriage declining sharply over the last three decades, about 30% of young adults today may not experience a marital relationship at all. Some will live together with another person in a marriage-like cohabiting relationship, but these relationships have much higher rates of breakdown. Added to those who will never find a long-term partner are those who have lost a long-term partner through separation and divorce, or widowhood. One of the greatest problems our society is now facing, and will face to a greater extent in the coming decades, is loneliness.
At the same time as the marital family with children has declined as the normal adult family form, civic organisations of all kinds have also declined. Churches, other religious communities and local sports associations are amongst the few remaining forms of connection beyond the family and the workplace.
How do we build better communities of care and support for people, particularly those who feel isolated and lonely? Britain has appointed a Minister to be responsible for responding to loneliness and has developed a national loneliness reduction strategy. There have been calls for such a role in Australia.
We also need to consider how better local communities can better support parents with children at home who are struggling.
Submission to the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee
This submission addresses the elimination of the increased subsidy for people over 65 who have private health insurance. It raises issues about how we give effect to solidarity between generations.
A Perfect Match: When Individualism Meets AI Relationships
I wake up. I reach for my phone to look at an algorithm perfectly designed just for me. I put on clothes suited to my own personal style. At the station I see a t-shirt that reads: Focus on yourself, don’t get lost in other people, creating my dream life. On the train I listen to an LA influencer tell me of her deepest traumas and the importance of cutting off toxic people before saying ‘I love you guys.’
What can the Church Learn from Taylor Swift?
Taylor Swift began her career at only 14 years of age, producing albums that dominate music streaming, and breaking records for revenue on tours.
Before cutting off a family member, ask yourself these 9 questions
For some, distance is necessary. For others, the harder — and sometimes more meaningful — work is figuring out how to stay.
Please don’t bring your whole self to work
Here’s a radical idea for the second quarter of the 21st century: please don’t bring your whole self to work.
Creating Thriving Communities The Role of Not-For-Profits in a Fragmenting World
This article explores how organisations can foster an authentic sense of connection and belonging among team members and the value proposition for those organisations that do.
Workplaces of belonging – the next leadership frontier
The workplace today is more than a site of economic production—it has quietly become Australia’s most prominent social institution. For many, work has surpassed churches, sporting clubs, unions and other civic spaces as the primary environment for community connection, shared purpose and belonging.
This article explores how organisations can foster an authentic sense of connection and belonging among team members and the value proposition for those organisations that do.
Supporting People to Overcome Loneliness
How do we help people who are very lonely? Jonathan Andrews, a clinical psychologist and author of The Reconnected Heart: How Relationships Help us Heal, explains that it is the quality of relationships that positively impacts loneliness, not quantity. People need deep connection, not a large number of friends.
a name: kodokushi, or ‘lonely deaths’, where a corpse might go undiscovered for months in an unvisited apartment, before the smell finally alerts someone
Equity for stay-at-home parents is needed to tackle declining fertility
Australia’s total fertility rate, averaging 1.48 children per woman during her childbearing years, has reached an all-time low. This figure is far below the replacement rate of just over 2 children per woman. This is not uniquely an Australian problem. Many other developed nations have experienced an even sharper decline in fertility than in Australia.
a name: kodokushi, or ‘lonely deaths’, where a corpse might go undiscovered for months in an unvisited apartment, before the smell finally alerts someone
Tackling Loneliness – Publica Live Podcast (Recording)
What can churches and community group leaders do about loneliness? Loneliness is a huge problem
