To wonder why the older generation can't admit that things are harder for millennials?

[ExtraPineappleExtraHam]

So we just had our meeting with a mortgage advisor. They will lend my dp £45,000 (not even enough for a bedsit in this town) and so I'm not even bothering to do mine as I earn less. We work very hard (44 hours and 27 hours) we just have low paid jobs and pay childcare for two under 5's!
I talked to my stepdad who compared it to when he had to borrow £36,000 to buy his first house in the early eighties. That was 3 times his salary and his wife stayed at home. He paid it off in six years. It's not the same. He was given a mortgage which was enough to buy a nice house in an area close to family and where he worked. He didn't have to have a bank manager saying 'well if you move to Wales or up north?' He didn't have to rent forever and have nothing to pass down to his children. It's not the same!

I’d rather have an English graduate from oxford than a stem graduate from a bottom tier university.

And thus we perpetuate the elite.

In the last few years, I’ve taken on graduates.............

To do what I wonder, user

No landlords would rent to me because I'm a single mum

Or a single parent. Stands to reason that one income will not often be as much as that provided by two parents.

" Stands to reason that one income will not often be as much as that provided by two parents."

Yes, but you judge whether people can pay the rent by their pay slips, not just whether they're single parents or not.

"Now, you could argue that not every graduate will have the strong academics at A-level etc that I’m looking for but that isn’t an issue of subject choice, it’s an issue of university choice and general academic performance. I’d rather have an English graduate from oxford than a stem graduate from a bottom tier university."

Well, exactly, you're backing up what OP and I are saying. Arts graduates have to be exceptional (straight A students, elite universities) to get more than an admin job. I was talking about the average arts graduate. Someone who got mixed grades at A level and went to a normal uni.

"I know plenty of people with History/French degrees that have highly paid jobs which have nothing to do with History it French etc, so I think you're talking rubbish about only being qualified for admin/teaching. confused"

Not rubbish at all. Look at the stats for what people are doing rather than just your own friends. Talk to admin staff that only need a few GCSEs as a minimum requirement, and ask them how many have degrees.

"Ffs - there's loads of stuff you could do other than admin work or teaching."

Oh really? Like what? I'd love to know what highly paid job I can do, seeing as my only skills are admin and that's all I have experience of.

"I can’t stand it when people say ‘millenials want A TV or a phone’. Well a smart phone is pretty vital in many jobs and a tv is hardly going to mean you can’t afford a house. "

Exactly. And my parents' generation also had a TV and a phone. Yes, it might have been a land line and a portable black and white TV, but they're equivalent in their times.
People have been listing Netflix as a luxury!

"But today a smartphone is considered a necessity"

FFS! It IS a necessity these days. I'm not even a millennial and I would be cut out of my social life if I didn't have one. It cost all of 10 POUNDS. It's the 21st Century, smart phones are not a luxury. They don't have to be expensive.

Arts graduates have to be exceptional (straight A students, elite universities) to get more than an admin job
Don't agree. Although she went to RG Uni, Arts degree, 2:1, I wouldn't call her exceptional but she is in a career and a hefty salary in Marketing. What I think singled her out was experience in part time jobs from school through Uni so always had an answer for the inevitable 'Tell me about a time when blah blah' questions.

People have been listing Netflix as a luxury!

It is though.

It's an extra expense that's listed in the 'nice to have' category - not 'essential'.

When you're saving for something, don't have as much disposable income as you'd like, or simply don't have enough income to cover normal daily life then you trim the fat wherever you can - Netflix is entirely within that category of 'unnecessary luxury'.

Netflix is cheaper than a tv license. I have Netflix instead of regular tv.

Roussette - didn't she need qualifications in marketing? I can't see how she could go in and be higher up than all the other arts graduates working in admin support roles there unless she had a job-related degree or a masters or some other kind of specialisation.

In any case, not being a RG graduate, I'm only good enough to make photocopies for your daughter.

"Netflix is entirely within that category of 'unnecessary luxury'."

What rubbish! And usually said by people who have a TV licence as I mentioned earlier and TheCats has just pointed out is much more expensive.
Everything except a roof and some food is not strictly necessary, but TV has been a part of life for decades now and the internet is absolutely necessary if you're going to find a job or having a social life.

Poor people can’t watch tv ever

I think nowadays if you have an arts/social sciences degree you either have to be exceptional with relevant work experience or have excellent contacts in order to pave your way to a well paid profession. So many of these graduates ime end up in call centres or NHS band 3 admin jobs which have no need for a degree

LOL @ a phone being a luxury.

"Poor people can’t watch tv ever"

Well, until recently you could be given an old TV and just not pay the licence. I presume there's not so many old TVs going free or cheap now that they all have to be digital. I think most people classed as poor in this country probably do have a TV of some kind or a computer/phone to watch it on.

Exactly Gwenhwyfar

"if you have an arts/social sciences degree you either have to be exceptional with relevant work experience or have excellent contacts in order to pave your way to a well paid profession. So many of these graduates ime end up in call centres or NHS band 3 admin jobs which have no need for a degree"

Or even A levels or a HND or anything. I've mainly done jobs that only require a couple of GCSEs. This has been the situation for a while. As I said I graduated over 20 years ago, but official advice at the time was that a degree in anything was good. In any case, most of the students on my course couldn't have got a good STEM degree even if we'd wanted one. It really isn't a case of CHOOSING to get a low paid job. Not many people go 'Oh yes, my dream is to work in a call centre.'

Gwen no. She had no qualifications in Marketing whatsoever. No Masters degree.

Oh, and we have no contacts whatsoever! We are completely useless in that direction, we've never known anyone who could help us, it's a bit of a standing joke in our family at our lack of friends with anything relevant to help with anything!

Roussette - so how come your daughter gets to boss about people who quite possibly have more qualifications than her and more subject knowledge? In my working life in admin, my superiors have had some kind of skill or knowledge that I didn't have. I'm not sure I'd be able to accept your daughter giving me orders to do menial tasks if she's as clueless in marketing as you say she is (or was when she first started working where she is).

Gwen I don't like your tone.

She doesn't boss anyone about. She has no one reporting to her. She asks no one to do menial tasks, OK?? And for your information, she is not clueless. She is in a fast moving marketing business which I'm not prepared to expand on without outing myself. She is very good at what she does. She is on her second Marketing job, she was headhunted for this job, her area is fairly niche.

I hope that satisfies you. Do you honestly think a major London company would pay ££££ to a clueless twenty something year old ?

Every generation thinks they have it harder than other generations! It's all a matter of expectations, which seem to be much higher these days. My generation may have found it easier to buy a house, but we had one old car, fourth hand furniture, a b&w tv, no tech, no foreign hols AND I had to get my husband to sign my tax return!