As we edge closer to the May 3 election, cost of living policies are at the forefront of both major parties’ campaign strategies.

Three years ago, we were gearing up to vote in what had been branded the “climate election”. Voting day in 2022 saw unprecedented support for the Greens and climate-conscious independents.

But can young people afford to care about climate change in 2025?

Today, we'll take a closer look at how young voters' priorities have shifted in a cost of living crisis.

P.S: TDA is looking into the world of weight loss medications and how they're prescribed to young people in Australia. We want to hear from you, which you might already know if you read this message in yesterday's newsletter… except the link to our survey didn't work. You can take our anonymous survey here (for real this time.)

The proportion of 18 to 34-year-old voters who ranked climate as their top concern has halved in 2025 compared to the last election, according to Resolve polling conducted for TDA.

If the 2022 election was fought on climate, the 2025 election is being fought on bread and butter cost of living issues.

Both Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton are treating the 3 May election as a verdict on who can offer more relief to address rising grocery prices, energy bills, petrol, mortgages, and rent.

Inflation (rising prices) peaked at 7.8% in December 2022 and Australians are still feeling the squeeze. While inflation has tapered off to an annual rate of 2.4%, (within the Reserve Bank’s target range of 2-3%) falling inflation doesn’t mean prices are going down – but rather, prices are still rising, just at a slower pace.

To understand more about the political impact of cost of living, we asked 18-34-year-olds what their biggest priority is heading into the election. This particular question allowed respondents to select multiple options.

The results paint an interesting picture, with climate trailing behind housing affordability, healthcare and wages:

While cost of living ranks as the top concern for young voters in 2025, it was a very different story in the lead up to the last election.

Ahead of the 2022 vote, Resolve polling showed climate and the environment was the single top priority for 16% of 18-34-year-olds. Polling from February shows that figure has nearly halved to 9% in 2025.

The 2022 election (branded the ‘climate election’) followed a period of criticism against the Coalition Government over its climate policies, along with then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s handling of the deadly 2019/20 Black Summer Bushfires.

In response, support for independents in inner-city electorates flipped six Liberal heartland seats, including the former Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s Melbourne seat of Kooyong.

The Greens picked up three seats in Brisbane, marking the party’s most successful federal election result in its 30-year history.

Three years since the last national poll, and Resolve founder Jim Reed said there’s been a climate “trade off” with cost of living.

“The environment's taken a little bit of a backseat compared to their more immediate sort of living concerns,” Reed told TDA.

“The day-to-day, hand-to-mouth” issues are dominating the 2025 election, he added.

The survey also examined young people’s sustainability spending decisions — finding 62% would not spend more on an eco-friendly product if a cheaper ‘less green’ alternative was available:

I asked Jim Reed whether this data means that young people just can’t afford to care about climate change.

“Not necessarily,” he said. “It’s about priorities.”

Resolve asked a focus group (reflecting a sample-size of the population) about whether they are concerned about the environment. Reed said the response was a near-universal “yes”.

Youth advocate Anjali Sharma has been fighting for climate change at a national level for several years. Sharma took the Federal Government to court in 2020, where she argued lawmakers and politicians have a responsibility to protect younger generations from the impacts of climate change.

At just 20, her resumé also includes helping to draft a law to add a “duty of care” in climate-related decision-making, and organising national student action via the ‘School Strikes 4 climate’ protests.

Sharma admits young people are disengaging from some issues, thanks to the fatigue and “feeling of overwhelm” that’s come from living through multiple crises.

“Doom-scrolling on social media” can confront young people with multiple devastating realities at once, Sharma told TDA. Climate change blends in as another crisis, along with housing, cost of living, and global wars, she explained.

Reflecting on her own experience of activism, Sharma said some young leaders who used to organise or rally for climate action have now disconnected.

“A lot of young people don’t see the point and that is so disappointing… There is that sense of overwhelm and that feeling of politics is not something [young people] can engage with right now,” Sharma said.

However, sustainability is still a focus for many voters. Greenpeace Australia provided TDA with figures showing the number of its supporters has increased over the past three years.

Despite this, the environmental organisation’s head of advocacy, Dr Susie Byers, said COVID-19 lockdowns led to a decrease in the number of ‘baby activists’ — young advocates who grow into future change-makers.

During the pandemic, Dr Byers said “young people didn’t have the same opportunities to get out there on the streets compared to older people when they were starting out at university or adult life”.

“It takes a while for people to rebuild that habit and that muscle of coming together.”

Without the presence of an immediate danger like a current natural disaster, climate and environment can feel like a “sleeper” issue, she said.

Despite not being a singular focus of this election, Jim Reed said young people still want action on climate change.

58% of 18-34-year-olds described climate change as an “urgent and serious problem requiring sacrifice” in the Resolve survey, compared to 41% of older cohorts.

Sharma said the question of caring about ‘climate’ or ‘cost of living’ should be framed differently.

“It should be a matter of whether you care about climate change AND the cost of living,” she said.

Recent studies have also pointed to a link between the two issues. UNSW scientists published research last week highlighting that people would be 40% poorer if the world were to warm by 4°C.

The Australia Institute also released a report detailing evidence of climate change escalating the cost of insurance, energy, and food.

For example, the report notes the price of olive oil has skyrocketed in tandem with droughts in Spain (where it’s largely produced) over the past two years.

“Climate change and cost of living are so interlinked and it's not an issue that we should allow to be divorced,” Sharma said.

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