Tuesday 28 June 2022 05:48 AM Census 2021 data shows millennials will soon replace baby boomers as ... trends now

Australia is becoming even less religious with homeowners more likely to be suffering from mortgage stress, as millennials come close to replacing baby boomers as the biggest generation.

People of no faith vastly outnumbered the combined total of those identifying as Catholic or Anglican with Christians now a minority, new 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics Census data shows.

The typical home borrower also had a $485,000 home loan, owing their bank $1,863 every month, while 54,711 people lived in either a caravan or a motorhome.

An Australian couple needed to earn more than $90,792 between them to be among the top half of households by income but even at this level, they would be close to being in mortgage stress paying off a common mortgage.

Millennials, aged 25 to 39, who came of age or entered adulthood at the start of the 21st century are on the verge of becoming the biggest generation, ending the boomers' six-decade run as the biggest demographic.

Australia was home to just 5,662 more baby boomers than millennials on August 10 last year, with each generation each boasting 5.4 million people or 21.5 per cent of the population.

The post-war boomer generation covers those born from 1946 to 1965 and includes Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who was born in 1963, along with his predecessors Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull.

Their membership also includes Governor-General David Hurley, Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe and Chief Justice Susan Kiefel, who must retire in less than two years when she turns 70.

Prince Charles, Australia's next head of state, is also a baby boomer, as are Australia's richest individuals, mining magnates Gina Rinehart and Andrew Forrest.

Boomers made up 38.5 per cent of Australia's population in 1966 but their share of the population shrank to 25.4 per cent in 2011 and 21.5 per cent last year.

During the past decade, the number of millennials has increased from 20.4 per cent to 21.5 per cent, with NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet, 39, so far, the only state leader in this group.

Australia's youngest female billionaire Melanie Perkins, the 35-year-old chief executive of graphic design group Canva, is also part of the millennial generation, along with cricket Test captain Pat Cummins and movie star Chris Hemsworth.

They are younger than Generation X, born from 1966 to 1980, with this group including former prime minister Scott Morrison, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, Silverchair lead singer Daniel Johns and Atlassian's billionaire co-founders Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar.

Gen X makes up 19.3 per cent of the population, ahead of Generation Z, born from 1996 to 2010, with an 18.2 per cent share, followed by Generation Alpha, born from 2011 to 2021, with a 12 per cent share.

The interwar generation, born in 1945 or earlier, has the smallest share at 7.5 per cent, with the Queen, who turned 96 in April, the most well-known of this group in the Commonwealth.

Australia's oldest living former prime minister John Howard, an 82-year-old monarchist who won four elections, is also part of silent generation, as is his 78-year-old predecessor Paul Keating.

Religion

Australians with no religion outnumbered people of faith with their numbers the fastest growing.

They had a 38.4 per cent share of the religious affiliation pool, almost double Catholics on 20 per cent and the 9.8 per cent share for Anglicans.