The Future of Us Demography gets a makeover

Demography is far more important than destiny. By tracing connections between a population’s past and present, demographers can foresee its future. The true wonder of demography, though, is not its ability to predict the future but to shape it. With energy and passion, demographer Liz Allen sets out the potential paths to make Australia better. Bold, fearless, and revealing, The Future of Usdoes more than help you find your inner statistician. Looking beyond births, deaths, and marriages, Allen takes apart inequality, migration, tax, and home ownership. She also dissects how the word ‘population’ became so charged, daring to ask what Australia might look like in 20 years if we had zero immigration. The Future of Us gives demography a makeover and sets out future possibilities for a better us…just like a Choose Your Own Adventure, but for the nation.

Dr Liz Allen is a demographer and social researcher, teaching research methods and researching population dynamics at the ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods. She uses her analytic skills to provide much-needed information about data (for example the census and marriage postal survey) or population dynamics (for example immigration and fertility). Liz has written numerous pieces for The Conversation, scholarly articles in academic journals, and contributions to research reports. She was named in the inaugural ABC Top 5 Humanities and Social Sciences academics in Australia 2018. She can be found on social media under the alter-ego of Dr Demography.