One major impact on demand is advertising, in all forms of the media. The world has experienced the growth of ''global'' brands since the 1970's. This has not lead to a growing uniformity of fashion and tastes. The ability of the media to inform people around the world of new fashions and new trends anywhere means demand can change rapidly. One reason demand grew strongly in the period 1947/48 to 1971/72 (apart from the ''mini recession'' of 1961/62), was because Australia's population was rapidly growing. The ''baby boomer'' generation, created demand and employment. As this group grew into the decades of their 20's and 30's, however, the number of children per family began to fell. The ''baby boomers'' put a higher preference on ''lifestyle'' than children. This meant that the average age of the population began to rise. In the 1950's, the birth rate soared, and the average of the population fell. In the 1980's, 12% of the total population over 65 years. By 2020, the proportion of people in their ''third age'' are expected to be 20% of the total population. In the housing market today, the demand for ''medium density'' housing for people in their retirement years, is growing faster than the demand for standard homes. The rise in the number of people over 50 years has also seen greater demands on our health system. Funds for this are gained through taxation. Increasingly in the 1990's, what is made and what is bought is determined by the needs and spending of older people. |