I've had so many conversations with older people who will not admit that things are harder for young people today than they were for them at the same age. They will not, no matter the sources, the statistics, or the figures, give up the idea that they had it "just as hard". Which, isnt untrue, but when we are talking about the mathematical reality of the economy, including buying a home, renting a home, or trying to survive on minimum wage, they will not hear the truth. It is harder now.
I live in a deprived area. Many of the people here were born into poverty and have remained in poverty their whole lives. When I tell them things are harder for their children and grandchildren, they become angry. They cannot divorce the memories they have of struggling from the objective reality that things have gotten worse. The idea that young people have it mathematically harder feels, to them, like a delegitimisation of their own struggles.
How, then, do I explain that despite their personal circumstances, the state of the housing market and the economy when they were in their 20s meant a couple could have a single income and afford the 3-4 bedroom house they needed for their 2.5 children, and go on holiday every year? Meanwhile, Gen Z, Gen Alpha, and Millenials (to a lesser extent) have to be dual-income with no children to RENT a property without choosing between heating and eating, and this is only worse for those with children.
Are there people who were in similar positions in the past? Yes. Are there people in better positions now? Yes. But the overwhelming reality is that this isnt a "1 in 50 adults can't afford to buy a home on their single income" from their youth. It's "1 in 2 adults can't afford to buy a home on their single income" its just the norm now.
I'm 28 years old. The job market sucks. I had a job rug-pulled from beneath me in November of last year [2024] after I had finished my notice at my previous employer, whom had already replaced me and couldn't take me back. The reality that left me in is that i had to live off my savings. For 2 months. That ate every penny i had saved. I am living with my parents. I will not be able to move out before 30. This was unheard of when my parents were my age. My dad had moved out of his first home and into his second by the time he was 23. He used the sale of his first house to have just a 30% mortgage on his second. He cleared that in 10 years. He worked in a factory. I work at a university.
The state of the UK is bleak. That's all.
