Aibu to think that "suspended adulthood" is going to lead to large problems?

[BlancheBlue]

www.theguardian.com/society/2016/sep/22/young-people-living-in-a-suspended-adulthood-finds-research

Just this really. There was a telling comment about this article with the ever increasing age profile of parents the chance of children knowing grandparents is going to be remote.

I think lots of the boomer generation really fail to understand this. Whenever it is said it is tough for young people que loads of "well I worked my arse off and owned a house by the time I was 21" type comments.

Btw Pluto- your work ethic and attitude is extremely admirable.

pluto agree that student loans are cheap money (at the moment... in the small print there's the ability for the govt to change the terms..)
You must be on the newer loans to pay so little - I had the old style loans which kicked in at a significantly lower income and were actually quite a drain (couple of hundred a month) - the new system is more akin to a graduate tax. Many will never pay it off and that's built into the system.

Working and coming out with a net positive balance from uni is only possible on the kinds of course that have low contact time. I had 42 hours a week of lectures and labs so working in the week was out as there was also significant extra out of hours work (course load probably 60-70 hours a week.) I did work three jobs in the holidays but there's absolutely no way I could have come out on a net positive. I was very fortunate to have a low debt at the end (due to living in hovels off toast and scrounged pizza mainly) but I couldn't have made money without serious impact to my grades. I was fortunate to be paid to do my masters and PhD - with a bit of teaching on top it was liveable.

I consider the loans a pretty good investment but as the system is now I'd not advise anyone to rack up 27k debt for a first degree unless it's one that's worth it (medicine, engineering, nursing, vocational/industrial stuff etc.)

The uk needs to move away from this low skill low wage poor condition economy we have. I left the uk several years ago and every time I go back it seems worse :(

This was discussed the other day. I worked out people would have a deposit if they just gave up the daily coffee and muffin. They would also be less fat.

Everyone wants everything right now, in my day I made all my own clothes, had an allotment and used my bike.

These days every young person drives, goes on expensive holidays and eats out all the time. They are very lucky to have help to buy and shared ownership. There was never any help for me to get on the property ladder, you just had to work for it!

Now they seem to have the same quality of life as me however I've had to work 30 years to get here and have made more contribution to society than they ever will.

TheHubblesWindscreenWipers I graduated in 2013 so it's my generation the article is talking about :)

user1474095534 how many young people do you actually know? I presume you get your info from the Fail or Facebook.

I know/of a quite a few young people, all of whom work in low paid jobs or are students. The only ones who have cars or expensive holidays have been bought those things by their parents.

We took our two young adult children on holiday this summer. If you had seen their instagram it probably looked like they were two young people on an expensive holiday. Nope, we saved all year for a cheap fortnight in the sun, and my mum sent them €30 each spending money.

Among my son's friends, the only people I know of with a car are farmers' kids who learnt to drive on their parents land for nothing and drive crappy old bangers. Everyone else goes on the bus. Oh and eating out involves Wetherspoons for a treat!

TheHubblesWindscreenWipers I only had about 25 hours a week of actual lecture time, and about 15 hours of coursework etc roughly, although towards the end of term it got mad busy and I had to drop down to 2 night shifts a week. The benefit of nights when you're a student is you can do full time hours in 3-4 hours, plus I was in a lovely nursing home which allowed me to do coursework during the "dead" hours, usually 3-5am after the midnight checks. I used to just set up in the day room and crack on, no distractions and nothing else to do, hence the first class degree!

I don't know how the student loans used to be but yeah, they cost barely anything per month now and as I said, you just don't notice it. That's why so few people pay it off in one go!

I was lucky to have taken out my loan in 2010, before they raised tuition fees and still on the ICR (income based) repayment system rather than the old mortgage style system, so I guess I avoided the worst of it.

Personally I believe higher education should be free (as it was for both my parents), hence the slightly ironic "clever tax" name we gave our student loan repayments

Dontyoulovecalpol thanks, I do agree though that it's bloody hard work to get on in life for our generation and I'm very much a minority on my peer group. You just have to crack on and think ahead a lot more and not just assume everything will be the way it was for your parents..

user1474095534 Hi, I'm a dratted young folk...

If it makes you feel any better, my last holiday was 4 years ago and I paid for it out of a tax rebate, my car is on finance because I commute an hour each way to get to work and couldnt cope without it because I live rurally (I paid for my own lessons by the way from my earnings when I was 17) and I don't think DP and I have eaten out for about a year...

I didn't use help to buy or shared ownership to buy my house, I worked bloody hard and saved a deposit which, by the way, would have taken me
4,000 weeks, or 77 years to do if I had done it just by giving up a coffee for 5 days a week. Not that I can afford a coffee and a muffin every day anyway, maybe once a month if that?

My generation will live longer and retire much later than yours, we'll contribute to the economy for approximately 4 years and 8 months longer than someone of your generation will. You'll live longer as a retired citizen for longer, being a bigger drain on the social budget than (in your words) my generation "ever will".

Wind your neck in.

I can only assume that young people, coffee/muffins, and mortgage deposits all work very differently on whatever planet UserManynumbers is joining us from.

53rdAndBird yeah and if I give up the weekly penny sweet habit I might be able to buy a mansion

user back to the old coffee and muffin argument hey? Are you being deliberately obtuse or just stupid? You can't honestly believe houses are out of reach as people are buying a coffee. You "worked it out" lol maths and general knowledge weak points for you?

I'm now imagining new-build flats made from muffins and skinny lattes, like some sort of 21st century hipster version of the house in Hansel and Gretel.

Oh and re idiots like you user hoped you get fucked over on care costs and don't come moaning here about it.

My job does not exist outside of London. It simply doesn't. By staying in London and renting, I can afford to live in a beautiful two-story home in central London and have plenty of money for phones, holidays, restaurants, etc. It's my money to spend how I wish, and I have absolutely zero desire to ever own a house.

Why on earth should I move to the Orkneys, leave all my family and friends, get a job at Asda and live on beans on toast for the rest of my life, just for the dubious honour of being a home-owner (with a massive mortgage)?

Posters have made extremely good and important arguments about the sustainability of the current financial and housing situation, and the sharp geographical divide between rich and poor. I'm not disagreeing with any of that. The current state is terrible. The fact rents are sky-high, that home ownership is impossible for many, and that young people or non-wealthy are being forced out of entire areas is absolutely terrible. I rent by choice but for many it is not a choice. I fully realise how lucky I am.

But the older posters acting like any young person who doesn't put home-ownership above their families, careers and well-being are immature, need to get into the real world and stop being judgmental twats. There's nothing immature or "suspended adult" about not owning a home, whether it's by choice or lack of choice.

Imagine the potential for TV property programmes! Kirsty and Phil talking to some young couple in a new-build living room: "It's crunch time! Darren, you want this 3-bedroom semi in a slightly soulless suburb - but Fenella, you want a spiced pumpkin latte. Both are on the market for £235,000. What's it going to be?"

Incidentally many of my friends my age have to live with their parents as even renting is out of their range. And some of them own only the most basic Nokia pay as you go non-smart phones and almost never go out.

It's a real problem, and telling them "just give up the Starbucks!" is really not helpful.

Kirsty and Phil talking to some young couple in a new-build living room: "It's crunch time! Darren, you want this 3-bedroom semi in a slightly soulless suburb - but Fenella, you want a spiced pumpkin latte. Both are on the market for £235,000. What's it going to be?

Amazing!!!!

Yeah there is nothing wrong with renting if it suits you and that's what you want to do

I wouldn't have wanted to buy before I was 30 because I was doing my PhD/working in short term contracts/travelling etc. Renting was fine. Now I'm late thirties and I'm happy to have my own home because it's ours and we have a kid.

I wouldn't want to be renting if it made my life harder or more precarious which sadly is the case for many in rented accommodation - shit landlords, no security of tenure and high rents etc.

Plus what do they do when they retire? Here pensions are high enough to cover rent.. not so in the uk. The benefits bill is going to be huge when the renter generation hits retirement age.

the problem isn't renting per se it's having no choice. A bit like zero hour contracts. Great if you're a student or a freelancer. Not so good if you are relying on it to feed or house your family.

Honey and blanche, agree with you both. Todays young are being shafted.

We do have a problem with opportunities being more and more limited. I too live abroad and see the divide more and more each year that passes. It is wrong and so far no one is looking to close the gap because closing that gap means accepting a higher unemployment rate among the young as well as properly supporting the manufacturing industry which means accepting certain amount of pollution.

I do think we have far too many young people at university. I honestly did not need my degree and only stuck with it to keep my parents happy. The only thing it did to help me was enable me to get my CPA license here in the US. They have a requirement for 150 credits (bachelor plus masters). Totally dumb IMO and creates a barrier.

The benefits bill is going to be huge when the renter generation hits retirement age

yep, and all that public money will be siphoned off into the pockets of the landlords, wont they be feeling so pleased with themselves that they had the foresight to elbow their way into property, blocking all those would be owner occupiers.
Every owner occupier is one less person working to enrich a landlord, so buy up all the houses, push prices beyond the level that ordinary folk can afford.

For some the golden years will be golden, those of us who didnt get on the ladder....well it's just tough isnt it.
Perhaps a change to the euthanasia laws are our best hope, would the politicians (a large proportion of whom just happen to be landlords)go for that I wonder?

As I said earlier many are going to get a rude shock with care bills. Reisidential/nursing care will quicky eat through a "prized and hard won" btl portfolio and with the attitude of many I don't think there will be the remotest bit of sympathy from the younger generation who "don't contribute" according to some

perhaps those who have any spare money should be buying stocks and shares in nursing homes?

Haven't read the whole thread so shouldn't comment i suppose but what I have read is nasty, divisive and prejudiced.

Working class people could definitely buy houses in London on one salary in the 1930s for example. It is definitely much worse now.

Live in Nottingham, household income over 150k, privately educated kids, own (mortgaged) our home, a buy to let property and a holiday home.

2 beds in my village 120 k
Our jobs pay more in London but would make no sense to live there