The man shortage on the Northern Rivers
So there’s a man shortage on the Northern Rivers! That’s the news from demographer Bernard Salt, whose findings on the lack of blokes in this region were reported in The Northern Star .
Journalist Megan Kinninment wrote in The Star: “Ballina and Byron Bay are the worst hit if you are to find a mate aged between 30 and 40. There are 1500 more women than men aged 30-39 on the coast. And, if you are looking for that elusive 40-year-old partner, your chances are even slimmer — women out number men by 16 per cent in this age group.”
We checked out Bernard Salt’s news release to find out if the shortage was specific to the local area. It isn’t!
The report says: “There were 54,000 more men than women aged 30-something in Australia in 1976. By 2004 there were 20,000 fewer men than women aged 30-something.”
So what’s the reason for this? Are more baby girls being born these days?
No, it’s not a quirk of nature. Salt says the reason ‘for the so-called man drought’ is that the globalisation of labour is now attracting young men in particular out of Australia to stronger economies in the northern hemisphere.
“The fact is that Generation X women (born 1961 to 1976) have had access to fewer men from which to choose a partner than did baby boomer women (born 1946 to 1961) 30 years ago,” the report said.
So the reason is that there’s more money to be made out of Australia, and young men are chasing the foreign currency.
What’s the solution for an Aussie girl looking to find a long-time partner? Head to foreign shores and start looking elsewehere?
Perhaps that’s the answer. But it might not be that easy. The Star’s report reminded this writer of a story told in Alaska.
We were being bussed from Anchorage to the beautiful Dennali National Park. Our driver had a real sense of humour, regaling us with stories about life in Alaska (such as when he and his son were confronted by a bear while bushwalking) and some of the local jokes — usually talking up Alaska (the Alaskans are proud that they live in the largest State in the union) and usually at the expense of his fellow Americans (What’s the definition of claustrophobia? An Alaskan in Texas).
Anyway, we passed the turn-off to an obscure town. The driver explained to us that the town was famous for its annual cow-pat tossing festival — and the fact that there were five men to every one woman in this particular Smallsville (cow-pat tossing and the lack of women? There could be some sort of parallel there!).
Our driver had met one woman resident of this town and asked her what it was like having so many men to choose from.
“Yes,” she told him, “the odds are good.
“But the goods are odd!”
More from the Salt Report …
Byron Bay holds the record as the Australian town with the highest proportion of baby boomers (born 1946-1961). Byron has 27 per cent of its population born in that period, compared with the national average of 21 per cent. The reason? Salt says that boomers came to the region as 20-year-olds for the Nimbin Aquarius Festival in 1973 and they haven’t moved on.
The ‘equivalent boomer bunker’, says Salt, is Los Alamos (also 27 per cent), ‘which is home to America’s nuclear weapons research where they are no doubt tagged boom-boom boomers’. Boom-boom, Mr Salt!
The ’seachange’ is a reality. Almost 20 per cent of the nation now lives on the provincial coast. Australians, says Salt, are singularly focused on coast; there are simply no other places that compare with beach cities to attract Australian people’.
For more on the Salt Report, check out www.kpmg.com.au or www.thebigshift.com.au
