Understanding the downshifting phenomenon: A case of South East Queensland, Australia

A quality of life survey of a sample of households across the Brisbane-South East Queensland region has identified about 28 percent of people as 'downshifters.' They are defined as people who voluntarily make a long-term change in their lifestyle - other than planned retirement - which reduces income and adjusts their lifestyle conditions. A typology of downshifters is developed on the basis of their motives for downshifting and their socio-economic and demographic characteristics using a Two Step Cluster Analysis. Results indicate that the social and economic circumstances and the reasons and methods of downshifting tend to vary substantially across the clusters.