Why it’s important that older generations sympathise with millennials
Being a millennial during the 21st century is tough. The older population are quick to put us on par with the “loony left”. However ,what they find difficult to fathom, is the political rise of leftist politics and the young voter are endemic to our current climate.
To understand a millennial’s frustration, it is vital that people see how the inept government are handling a distinctly unfair system left behind by the baby boomers and generation X. A significant amount of these demographic cohorts own their own home, soon to be mortgage-free, with a happy work-life balance. They laud Thatcherite policies for introducing a right-to-buy scheme. This meant that adults who relied on social housing could buy the homes they inhabited for a discount price from their local authority. Around 1.5 million homes have been sold under this initiative since the schemes inception in 1980; a year into Margaret Thatcher’s premiership.
Furthermore, throughout the 1960–80’s, the concept of going to university was extremely uncommon. School leavers entered the world of work immediately. They travelled through the hierarchical ranks of their career choice before entering on the property ladder at the median age of 23. Having a degree was futile when the job market was swimming with opportunity. The era saw the “loadsamoney” mentality garner attention, particularly from comedian Harry Enfield. He used it as a humorous platform to convey the illusory success of an average working-man during Thatcher’s government. Critics on the left have described this attitude as a way to capture voters whilst dissipating state assets, which is perceptible in its failures today.
Now, the individualist approach to political life is in revolt. An estimated 1 in 3 millennials will never own their own home. The inflation of housing prices has caused an existential crisis which has coincided with the influx of social houses being sold off. Rent has become inaccessible and a stigma now surrounds tenants who occupy social or privately rented accommodation. Around 2 million people live in landlord-run homes so untenable it is causing harm on their physical and mental health.
Another crisis is looming in the job market. It is almost inevitable that school leavers must head straight to university and achieve a degree if they want to succeed in a workplace. Once a degree has been awarded, the prospect of finding a decent-paying job in exceedingly costly times is taxing. A high number of graduates are all battling for the same job, meaning they are finding employment in lower-skilled sectors as a stop-gap. Postgraduates are then forced to sign zero-hour contracts to make ends meet. How is this way of life defensible when millennials are spending 3 times more of their income on housing than their predecessors?
Before the complicit older generations mock or belittle their younger counterparts, they must listen to their despair. They are not all whining, binge-drinking graduates with too much time to spare. They just want change. Therefore, this current government, bursting at the rim with baby boomers and gen X elitism, must step up or step aside to fight for their children's’ futures.
