Britain's Gen Zers Aren't Lost — Yet
It's the prerogative of older generations to bemoan the fecklessness of youth. One's struggles to find a place in the world acquire a tinge of heroism and inevitability in the mirror of the receding past. If today's young people would only learn to forgo the avocado toast and knuckle down like we did, their eventual success would be assured. Or so our experience seems to say.
For this reason, the judgments of society's more seasoned members about their juniors should be treated with caution. We are unreliable narrators of national decline. Nevertheless, it is clear that something alarming is going on with many of Britain's younger people — specifically Generation Z, the group born between 1997 and about 2012. The number of inactive 16- to 24-year-olds, known by the unlovely acronym NEET — for 'not in education, employment or training' — has jumped by more than 300,000 since 2021 to reach almost 1 million, or close to one in seven. The British Chambers of Commerce warn of a ' lost generation ' that threatens to hurt businesses and the economy.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
County Durham club which held 'wrestling death match' to be auctioned off
A County Durham club that rose to prominence after holding an ill-fated wrestling event featuring a 'death match' has had its price slashed as it heads to auction. New Seaham Conservative Club, the venue of the notorious 'Pits of Punishment' event, is now on the market for £250,000, after previously being listed for £300,000. In July 2023, the club was fined close to £1,000 after being convicted of offences related to the wrestling event, which saw wrestlers left covered in blood. It held the event without proper licensing, allowed children to be present after 10pm, and sold alcohol to non-members without the necessary licence or temporary event notice. The estate agents are presenting the property, now wrestling-match-free as a "detached former social club with an adjoining self-contained three-bedroom house". Auctioneers Savills highlight the "asset management potential in its current use or development potential to be converted into multiple dwellings" subject to the necessary consents. The club was fined in 2023 after the so-called 'death match'. (Image: DURHAM COUNTY COUNCIL) Constructed in 1895, the property is of brick construction and is set beneath a multi-pitched slate-covered roof. The club also features a beer garden, a beer patio, and car parking for approximately 20 vehicles. The property extends to 0.54 acres in total. The detached single-storey social club includes trading rooms, a games area, a members lounge, a function room, and a public bar with a stage area and dance floor. Ancillary trading areas include customer WCs, store rooms, dressing rooms, a manager's office, and a boiler room. The basement houses a beer cellar and additional storage. The ill-fated event saw wrestlers left covered in blood. (Image: DURHAM COUNTY COUNCIL) County Durham venue that ran bloody wrestling event in front of children fined 'Slap in the face for County Durham' if train services axed, rail user warns 'Dad told me 'p*** off!' after hearing of my £1m lotto win two days before he died' An adjoining two-storey house, previously used as stewards' accommodation, includes a living room, kitchen, dining room, and toilet on the ground floor, with three bedrooms and a bathroom on the first floor. The site also boasts a service yard and additional parking spaces at the front of the property. The auction for the property is scheduled for June 17, just a month shy of the two year anniversary of the venue being fined for the 'death match'.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
‘Why should we have to downsize?': How boomers became the victim generation
We're looking for readers in different generations to talk about change within their families, such as a grandparent and grandchild's experiences of buying their first home. To get involved, email us at money@ Baby boomers have nothing to complain about. Bumper pensions. Free university education. House prices that have gone through the roof. Some of them even got to see The Beatles. This, at least, is the idea that's caught fire over the last 20 years, a period in which the debate about inequality in Britain has been reframed as a tug-of-war between generations. Boomers – the post-war cohort born between 1946 and 1965 – are blamed for hoarding wealth after winning the economic lottery. The losers are said to be Generation Z and millennials – born between 1980 and 2009 – who face sky-high mortgages and record-breaking rents, stagnating wages, massive student debt and outrageous student loan repayments, plus an unstable jobs market. There is a stigma attached to being a 'boomer', which has become shorthand for greedy, entitled and out of touch. Boomers have been accused of 'stealing their children's futures' by taking more than their fair share. Many believe they are unfairly victimised – pilloried for their wealth, and told to downsize out of their house to make way for younger families. But are they right to feel that way? A report by the House of Commons' Women and Equalities Committee in February confirmed what many older citizens have experienced first-hand. It found 'clear evidence' of ageist stereotyping across British media, with debates about intergenerational fairness tending to pit younger and older generations against each other in a 'perceived fight for limited resources'. The report went on: 'Older people are also frequently stereotyped as wealthy 'boomers' living comfortable lives in homes they own while younger generations struggle on low incomes, unable to afford to enter the housing market and struggling with high rents.' These 'narratives', the committee said, have fuelled 'divisive and harmful tensions in society'. This resentment doesn't come from nowhere. Recent figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that boomers are by far Britain's richest cohort. The average wealth of households aged 65 to 74 is £502,500 – more than 30 times that of Gen Zs aged 16 to 24, who typically have £15,200. Boomers' wealth is also 4.6 times greater than those aged 25 to 34, who are mainly younger millennials, with £109,800. This may not seem very surprising given older people have had a lifetime to accumulate savings, homes and pensions. 'There's an extremely strong life-cycle component to wealth,' says Simon Pittaway, a senior economist at The Resolution Foundation think tank. 'Most people start working lives with very little, build it up through peak working years then run it down in retirement. 'This has been the case for a long time. But we're seeing that profile getting starker.' The gap between the generations has grown since the financial crisis, which is often blamed on the boomers, who, the argument goes, were steering the ship at the time. A Resolution Foundation study found that between 2006-08 and 2018-20, median wealth among Britons in their 60s rose by 55pc in real terms, but median wealth for those in their 30s fell by 34pc. At the same time, the share of Britain's wealth held by the under-40s has fallen from 7.5pc in 2010 to 4pc today. It's statistics like these that mean boomers are often implored to give away their hoarded wealth, or downsize into smaller properties to make room for young families. John Griffiths, 80, insists his generation is in fact supremely generous – and shouldn't be discriminated against for having done well. 'It's a gimmick in the financial media to blame the boomers,' he says. 'It's not our fault property went up the way it did in the 60s and 70s. [The house price rises] drove most of us out of London.' Griffiths was born shortly after VE Day in May 1945, putting him right on the cusp of the boomer bracket. 'I tend to count myself as one of them,' he says. After training as a chemical engineer, he spent 20 years in the gas industry and the North Sea designing and building offshore oil facilities. He went on to found his own marine energy consultancy, advising clean energy firms and governments on how to best harness the power of waves and tides. He retired five years ago at the age of 75. His successful career has allowed him to pass on lump sums totalling £500,000 to his three children, who are in their 40s and 50s and have children themselves. A large part of his financial security derives from property wealth. The house in Wimbledon that he bought with his wife Valerie in 2006 for £545,000 is now worth £1.3m. Homeowners aged 60 and over hold more than half of the nation's owner-occupied housing wealth, totalling an estimated £2.89 trillion, according to estate agents Savills. Two thirds (67pc) of homeowners aged 65 and over have two or more spare rooms in their property, even as a shortage of affordable housing prevents young families from buying their first home. The Tony Blair Institute think tank has called for larger properties to be taxed more to encourage owners to downsize. But Griffiths believes pressuring older people to vacate their homes is unfair. 'It doesn't sit well with me. I don't think older people are hoarding. They stay where they are because they're afraid of change. 'Many don't have supportive families to help them, and are stuck where they are.' Dr Jennie Bristow, a reader in sociology at Canterbury Christ Church University, traces boomer bashing back to the collapse of traditional political frameworks at the end of the 20th century. 'From the 1990s, we started trying to explain societal problems that went beyond Left and Right,' she says. 'It's still playing out now in the culture wars.' It was a time when demographic anxieties were spreading across the Western world. Ageing populations mean relatively fewer younger workers supporting the swelling ranks of elderly pensioners through the welfare system. Old-versus-young became the salient faultline. 'The narrative that emerged was that the 2008 financial crisis was due to policy decisions, and also cultural individualism, that was personified by the baby boomer generation. These are the people who are hoarding wealth and will benefit from big pensions. 'For the Right, it's an argument for restructuring the welfare state. And for the Left, it's used as a reason for more welfare and less Thatcherite individualism. It brought those two opposites together.' Bristow believes anti-boomer sentiment peaked in 2010, the year that David Willetts, a former Tory MP turned public intellectual, published an influential book called 'The Pinch: How the Baby Boomers Stole Their Children's Future'. She says the tendency to blame the boomers has turned into a 'frenzy' that ignores inequalities within generational cohorts. 'The boomers associated with the 1960s generation, born straight after the war, did reap a lot of the benefits of that time. There were a lot of possibilities, economic opportunities, and they ended up with good pensions. But not everyone was part of this. It was actually quite a narrow section of society. 'Younger boomers came of age in the far more pessimistic 1970s. Yes, people got grants for university, but only 7pc of the cohort went.' Richard Merry was born in 1955, putting him right in the middle of the boomer generation. After leaving school at 16, Merry joined the armed forces, eventually becoming a member of a special army unit that sent him all over the world during a 50-year career. He has worked hard to retire three years ago in relative comfort, but acknowledges that younger generations have a tougher ride in many ways. 'People just don't earn that sort of money any more,' the 69-year-old says. 'I get a little bit sick with the boomers saying that it's young people's own fault for not getting on the property ladder.' Merry bought a three-bedroom semi-detached house in south-east London for £77,000 in 1990. It is now worth over £1m. It was easily affordable on his salary of around £32,000, equivalent to £80,000 today. 'My children, both in their 30s, work incredibly hard and lead tough lives. You simply can't compare property prices and deposits now to what they were.' But it's not all plain sailing for his generation. Care costs, for instance, are 'crucifying' the boomers, he says. His own mother's old age care cost £320,000 over three years – money that would have gone to Merry and his sister. They had to sell their mother's home to pay for it. 'All the talk is that boomers are hoarding wealth, but we're going to be skinned alive when it comes to care costs.' On tax and earnings too, it hasn't been the easiest of rides. 'People at the bottom benefitted from increases in the minimum wage, but middle earners like me have had the stuffing kicked out of them.' On the contrary, Angus Hanton, of the Intergenerational Foundation think tank, believes boomers have 'heavily rigged the game in their favour' over decades by repeatedly voting in governments that have given them a good deal. 'Boomers have fought tooth and nail to protect their interests,' he says. 'We can see that most starkly in how the tax system is structured – what's taxed heavily is earned income. Younger working people pay income tax at a high rate from a low level of earnings, plus National Insurance and student loan repayments, which is basically a tax. 'But unearned income is taxed very lightly – money in Isas and Sipps, and capital gains tax is half the rate of income tax.' Hanton, a boomer himself, rejects the idea that the focus on competing age groups squeezes out other factors from the conversation – like class, race or gender. 'Generational inequality is a really important lens and we shouldn't refuse to look through it just because there are other lenses available.' Evidence suggests that many younger people are looking at the world – and their claim on the material wealth of their elders – through this lens. Research by Moneyfarm, an investment platform, found that two in five millennials fear their parents were frittering away 'their' inheritance, while a fifth said their 'spendthrift' parents were selfish for failing to consider their children or grandchildren's economic wellbeing. Meanwhile, 61pc of Gen Z feel they have to work harder than their parents did, according to YouGov polling. The reality is that many young people will benefit indirectly from the economic success of their parents and grandparents. A much-cited report from estate agents Knight Frank found that millennials are set to become the 'richest generation in history', thanks to the steep rise in the value of property assets accumulated by the generations before them which will be passed on when they die. Yet Bristow points out that even if millennials as a group are in line for a huge windfall, the only ones who will actually benefit are those with well-off parents who rode the property wave. Boomers, too, all tend to be tarred with the same brush. 'You can look at it two ways, generationally,' she says. 'Not all older people are wealthy. So saying boomers have stolen their children's future doesn't stack up.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Newsweek
5 days ago
- Newsweek
Millennial Man Questions Why Gen Z Are Roasting This Emoji
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Generation Z are roasting a new millennial staple, and one 32-year-old is not impressed. Michael Coale Grey, an actor, singer and entertainer based in Los Angeles, California, shared his lighthearted dismay at how Gen Z have scorned the "laughing crying" emoji in a recent post to TikTok. The hilarious video, posted on May 28 under @michaelcgrey, struck a chord with viewers online. It has been viewed more than 268,000 times to date, resonating with amused millennials and Gen Zers alike. "Millennials getting roasted for using the laughing crying emoji," Grey said in the clip, his voice laced with mock drama. "Guess know sorry I love to laugh, sorry I love to laugh and cry and cry and laugh, with my friends and live and laugh and love." He told Newsweek: "It feels like the kind of thing the internet was meant to be for, bringing people together." The millennial uses social media both for work and for fun, but as the cultural tides continue to shift under the glow of LED ring lights and algorithmic timelines, even seemingly small choices—like emojis—can become signifiers of identity and age. "As I age so gracefully into my 30s, I have really started to see the signs of becoming a member of an 'older generation,' as a millennial," Grey said. "Sometimes I get it, sometimes it catches me off guard." The emoji in question has become a lightning rod of generational tension, its meaning apparently having evolved. What once universally represented "I'm laughing so hard I'm crying," is now, according to many younger TikTok users, passé. Some members of Gen Z now consider it outdated, opting for skull emojis to indicate their virtual laughter instead. "I started to see more Gen Z friends of mine talking about how the 'crying laughing' emoji is a 'millennial favorite,'" Grey said. "I felt that beautiful terror that comes with realizing you're getting older. Kind of like the emoji version of using aging cream or dyeing your hair." For a while, Grey said he even stopped using it, but eventually, he reached a turning point. "I caught myself holding back from using the emoji and decided—no, not again. I won't censor myself again," he explained. "I won't hold back anymore." The viral reaction to his candid video surprised even him. From left: Michael Coale Grey lounges on a couch; and the "laughing crying" emoji. From left: Michael Coale Grey lounges on a couch; and the "laughing crying" emoji. Getty Images / @michaelcgrey / Hannah Hyatt "I had a feeling the video might connect with some people but it is very funny to me just how many people loved it," he said. "I really struck a chord with my fellow millennials, who, understandably so, are clearly fed up with being called out or criticized for so many seemingly insignificant details." The phenomenon is part of a broader trend where millennials find themselves under scrutiny—from fashion choices to punctuation. "After all, there have been countless articles over the years now about all of the different pieces of society that the millennials are 'killing off,' from napkins to dinner dates," Grey said. But this particular emoji moment felt less like an attack and more like a mirror. "While this emoji situation is more of an observation than a criticism," he said, "clearly, based on the comments I've gotten on the video, there's some pent up rage and defiance amongst my fellow millennials." Mostly, though, the comments have been lighthearted. Viewers have shared their opinions on how cool they think the emoji still is and how little they care about what Gen Z think, joining in on the mock rebellion. "Didn't millennials basically invent emojis," one viewer said. "We decide what they mean." "After the way Gen Z voted, they literally can not bully me into anything," another added. "I don't [care] what Gen Z has to say," a third viewer shared. "They too do things that are viewed as lame. "They are an insufferable generation, boomers 2.0, they don't know what joy is." "It's fun," Grey said. "Some jokes, some messages of support, and of course, people using the crying laughing emoji a bunch, sharing in our beautiful millennial culture." Do you have any funny or adorable videos or pictures that you want to share? We want to see the best ones! Send them to life@ and they could appear on our site.
