Are things harder for millennials?

[squidwid]

Many of my friends don't own houses and they're in their 30s. They did everything that society asked of them and still they're not making headway.

I know so many elderly people that live in 4 bedroom homes worth £400k plus. Obviously there is nothing wrong with that but families should be able to afford those houses so things can move on. No one can afford to buy them...

Yes, have to agree with that. A generation or two ago, the "road map" was to get married and live in your parent's front/spare room, then save up for a deposit for your own home, then save up to be able to afford children. Now it seems the opposite way - have children, then you can't afford to save for a house deposit. Strange that people are willing to commit to each other by having children together before they're willing to commit to marriage or willing to save together to buy a house.

Move to an area where the average house price is half that.

Funny that people were willing to move to these expensive areas to get higher paid jobs, but aren't willing to move to cheaper areas to be able to buy a home.

Cheaper area = lower wages or higher commuting costs

It’s gen Z who are gonna be worse off anyway. Literally can’t think of one good thing about the current climate.

When I left school in the late nineties the main career choices for people who stayed local were the ferries, the large local financial services provider or the local factory (plus the obvious that is everywhere - retail, council, trades, teaching, NHS etc..).

As a "bright girl" I could have stayed, lived at home and got a job in one of the first two. Many of those I went to school with did. TBH if I had done that I probably could have bought a flat or house in my late twenties

Instead I left and went to University, got a degree and found work in London.

I acknowledge it cost me money and time in my twenties (renting, paying back my student loan), in the longer term it bought me greater earning power, more career choice, signifcantly more life experience.

It's not just about home ownership, the overall standard of living is/will be lower for millennials than for their parents.

Having a few more technologies at our disposal does not make up for decreased job opportunities and security, decreased economic growth, decreased social mobility, supressed wages, poorer health and public services, more difficulty in beginning/suppotting a family, increased resource scarcity, a collapsing environment, political instability, and an aging population

And I do do things about it IRL, I spent years retraining and left a more lucrative career to pursue something I am passionate about and that I hope will lead to a reduction in inequalities. I'm also on various steering groups both professionally and personally.

But this is an anonymous forum where most peoples views are already entrenched and frankly I'm sick of boomers/Xers minimising the issues younger generations face while also point blank refusing to take any responsibility for their actions and constantly putting barriers in the way of progress.

Arrggh! How did the font on my post get large?

I was gonna ask how did you make it so big 😂 didn’t even know what was a thing!

I have no idea how it happened!

Yes, there's obviously a link between income and local costs, basic supply & demand. You can't have the best of both Worlds.

I dont even know where to start with this ridiculous post.
As if all millennials are out at the beauty salon all day or the gym.
Jesus wept.

Yes, have to agree with that. A generation or two ago, the "road map" was to get married and live in your parent's front/spare room, then save up for a deposit for your own home, then save up to be able to afford children. Now it seems the opposite way - have children, then you can't afford to save for a house deposit. Strange that people are willing to commit to each other by having children together before they're willing to commit to marriage or willing to save together to buy a house.

The above makes no sense when you look at birth rates & age of FTMs. People are waiting to have dc or just not having them.

It is a mixed picture.
House prices are much higher and wages have fallen in real terms.
But if you are LGBT or disabled then it is a much better time to be young. When i was young LGBT people were still put in mental hospitals simply for being LGBT and lots of disabled young people had no real education. Disabled toilets were hard to find.
Life was much harsher in the past if you were autistic or had ADHD, You were just labelled as lazy or stupid.

Absolutely bonkers isn't it. Never had any sort of bodily extension here! Don't even visit the dentist.as can't access an NHS one. Have a hair cut once a year as a treat. No TV as don't want to pay for licence. No children, and fortunately are able to sublet a room so do that. Still can't buy a house....tried twice last year and both were downvalued by mortgage lenders so not only did we need a huge deposit we have spent years saving, we needed an extra 15k too. Then interest rates shot up and it became an impossible dream once again.

Some of us had small children in our 20s (like our parents did). If I'm honest I'd far rather be this way round - having had children but struggling to buy a house - than the other way round which a lot of my peers are now in. Having bought a flat and now find themselves with age related fertility issues. You see it all over Mumsnet too. Lots of millennial women who feel they did life "right" and fell for the bullshit we could have it all, struggling to have children in their late 30s and early 40s.

Boomers and Gen X really did a number on us with the lies they fed forward!

@mmalinky
It makes perfect sense.
When I was young, neither myself nor anyone else who I knew had kids before they got married and established a home.
We lived with our parents, worked and saved hard ( even if we went to university )
Then we married, bought a cheap house ( or rented ) and got it established before starting a family.
Most of us achieved this before we were thirty.
It wasn't easy, but it was doable if you were sensible and didn't start overreaching yourselves.

@Cantkeepkeepingon I am in my late fifties and had children older as was advised when I was younger as well. I wish I had them when I was much younger.

But that could also be seen as millennials crossing to have children later because they wanted to be different to their parents/family and establish themselves first. It’s hardly lies fed forward

Financially things are undoubtably worse.

House prices have increased way faster than wages. No matter what you do or how many visits to starbucks you cut back on, in that scenerio many, many more people just cannot afford to buy a property than in previous generations.

I can categorically state for my peer group the only reason they delayed parenthood was for perceived financial and career stability. They have the home but no one to fill it (other than a couple of dogs and cats).

@HoneyBeen no it doesn't make sense because look at the average age of mother now. People aren't not buying houses because they are having dc in their early 20s 🙄

That may be the case in your peer group but in the case of people I know it isn’t the case. Many have chosen to have children later because they would like to further their careers because there is now more opportunity for them to do so. It isn’t because they now have unrealistic expectations due to what the last generation told them. I had my children later because I wanted my life to be different to my family as they all had children very early and I saw the effects it had on them.

What about raising children? You’re talking about an entire generation. Men didn’t step out of the workplace to raise children. It was very common for women to work evenings or alternate shifts with their husbands. When mine were little I did bar work and cleaned other people’s houses to bring in extra money.

So, to answer your question, the vast majority of boomers will pay/have paid NI for circa 50 years.

There are very few parents of the boomer age bracket who would be keen to have their son and daughter-in-law living in their front room for possibly years to save up the £30-50k required for a deposit.

There is no such thing as cheap rent or a cheap house unless you substitute it with huge commuting costs.

These things are out of the reach of most people on typical starting salaries due to the multipliers involved in purchasing or renting.

What's wrong with spending your 20s travelling? We all only live once. Why not see as much of the world as you can whilst you're young and able?