Young people in the UK have it tough

[JiIttiIg]

All the news stories are about young people not getting jobs and having to stay with their parents. It used to be they had to stay at home to save for a house, now it's no house and no jobs. Can't see things getting any better in the near future. Is the UK now a country that is failing it's young people. Is it going to be like countries from Eastern or Southern Europe where young people had to outmigrate in order to get a decent life? Can't see any politicians having the right answers.

Its been gradually getting worse in many ways but very slowly over years and decades even.So slowly that people don’t notice,maybe that’s the idea.

House prices and the cost of living is out of control.Certainly house prices have been out of control for decades.

Theres is a generational divide which is why many took so long to notice it. QE & cheap debt masked a lot & assets soared so if you had a house or two &or investments you would feel richer despite seeing little wage growth.

Yes in better shape. If you looked at the data you’d see that.

https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/grossdomesticproductgdp/bulletins/gdpfirstquarterlyestimateuk/januarytomarch2026

You mean developing? Well surely when comparing how bad this country is we should compare to other countries to see a comparison???

You might be paying the same taxes, but your personal allowance has not increased with inflation so your net pay is worth much less than it was.

The Tories froze the tax bands.

But most people are leaving because of the inheritance tax changes as lots of other countries don't have IHT.

Loafs of people can’t leave because they are asset rich & cash poor.

Plus there isn’t a utopia of low tax and great public services.

And really someone at 72 working is in effect blocking the career ladder for people behind him, inc the graduates straight from uni.

While it might be good for him I don't believe it's good for other people's career progression or young people coming out of uni.

But you also have the same thing in shops and other lower paid jobs, people's thinking I'll leave my big bucks job and get a supermarket job, so good for them but not good for the young people who need work.

I was chatting to someone who works in a pub, can only get a couple of days a week doing supply teaching, hence also doing the pub because so many teaching posts have been carved up by teachers going part-time. Both younger teachers with families and older teachers who don't want to completely retire. That its made it hard for young teachers to get a full time post

@Newname26 , both my examples are atypical. My DH has his own small business that he founded 34 years ago. Various succession plans have not come to fruition, but he's not job-blocking -- because it is HIS company; there is no HR person to force retirement, and until he's happy that his youngish team have the experience and knowledge they will need to negotiate and price contracts profitably and the ability to complete them to the client's satisfaction, he'll stay on the fringes, doing holiday cover and just advising, eventually. (Very soon, I hope.)

The other person had retired from the team building CrossRail, at the normal age, and was begged to return from retirement to run it as a consultant because without him, the team did not have the knowledge of the project's history and things were drifting.

I'm editing this to add that graduates fresh from uni don't typically hold the top jobs within any organisation. Unless they are founding their own business. Generally, most organisations would expect 15 - 20 years of career progression and work experience before letting anyone loose on the big train set.

Nope. I shall never get over it. I shall keep shouting about it from the rooftops, while politicians (and you) try to pretend it was no big deal. It was a massive deal. A huge deal. It caused lasting damage. It normalised government by fear. One of its legacies is that I and many others will never trust any politician, or the news, or the media again. Prolonged lockdown and the massive campaign of fear caused lasting harm, especially to young people, and I will not be silenced by you or anybody else. I have as much right to speak about this as those who fight other causes on Mumsnet. This is a hill I will die on.

Get over it? Never.

No graduates dont hold top jobs but its a ladder as someone moves up, someone else fill their existing role, and so on until you have an opening opportunity at the bottom.

Well, well, well... I didn't know that!

I agree i think it did a huge amount of damage to young people and opportunities.

You learn so much just being in an office with experienced people but if all the experience is hiding away at home, who are you meant to ask for help?

Teams is ok for meetings but shite for training young people.

It’s hardly a rich country now, rather a country drowning in trillions of pounds in debt.

Wait, there are still benefits here, right? Tell me if there are not

Before I am getting flamed, you got to understand: people come here and give birth here, being more assured if something that government at least gives you help. If that was not the case, no one would migrate here

Some just want to
My husbands boss is nearly 70. Earns millions, is absolutely loaded. Does not need the money. Just refuses to retire. There are several like it where he works. I know many like this. DH also has a relative in academia well into their 70s and hogging a senior role, its got where the institution have had to raise capability issues to get them to retire because their memory has gone, they are not fit for the job.

if something happens....oh....not my day for typing

I have EU passport, where would you advise within the EU that will be better off for British youth with an EU passport as well?????

@whitefluffydog Lisbon could be a good option if you are in tech. Special tax breaks for young people.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm2yrx8yny2o

When my mother came here with me, she had nothing. Married a British man, outlived him, married again. I am here now and have kids. No one ever promissed my mum anything here, yet it happened for her and us...seems people in the UK want someone to guarantee them everything ...how and when in life you expected complete guarantees that you will get everything you ever dreamt off just because you are born somewhere

Tell young people to work on their morals, to work hard in education and to take any job, to be a presentable person, to be a decent human and get married. Two is better than one, says the Bible - marrying is always better than alone

yes and all over the world we have the same problem - people have no idea how still good here is

Amazing advice 🙄

Even if it is now, the departure of all the wealth creators will not have an immediate effect. It will take a few years.

Simple fix, reduce retirement age.
The increase to pension age means less movement below, including the bottom recruitment rung.

Come back to me around 2032-ish then. For now it’s improving, albeit not as fast as anyone would like.

Who pays the massive cost of the extra years of
triple locked state pension? Are you happy to pay much more tax for that?