Will you let yourself be part of the "Lost Generation"?

See this report: http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/oct/30/britains-youth-at-risk-of-being-lost-generation-warns-equality-report

Basically, lots of predicted future doom and gloom for people in school, college and uni right now. Housing issues, unemployment and low salaries, etc.

IMO it's one of those things where you can let it happen, or work together to do something about it.

Reply 1

DiddyDec01

I will be fine I already have a good wage and scope for a better future.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 2

Rakas21

Original post by Captain Jack

I reject the notion that things will be quite that bad, especially when you exclude London..

I posted in another thread..

Original post by i<3milkshake

Prospects for young people 'have worsened' says report

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-34674276

Young people are facing problems in key areas such as housing, jobs, access to education (in particular university and college fees).

Don't worry though, MP's are talking about whether people can get the services they need as I type this;
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-34666386

Shame the concern is just about people who have no connection to the UK whatsoever.

I'm so glad I'm 22. There are many much younger than me who will have to get a mini-mortgage to get a degree and get what looks like a mortgage for a five bed but only to buy a flat.
All of this will be paid off whilst paying sky high rents, or more acurately paying off the mortgage of someone wealthy enough to have already have a home and rent out a second.

I'd not be worried about education. It's free at the point of use and the repayment terms are actually more generous.

The jobs data is based on two things largely..

1) Wage data - This is a concern since those under 34 saw the biggest falls since 08 and real wage growth is still not going to be stunning once we generate some inflation.

2) Youth unemployment - While the ordinary labour market coped well we saw youth unemployment spike. I'm not so concerned that's an issue now though..

Housing is the main one i back you on. Only in the 2010-2012 period did we have a healthy housing market and the government responded to peoples whining about having to save deposits by inflating the credit supply via the likes of Help To Buy. For the first time in decades we saw affordability increase during a time of growth outside London.

Reply 3

Rakas21

Original post by Captain Jack

But the answer to your thread is that no i won't. I still think it's entirely reasonable that i'll be a home owner with a salary in excess of £30k.

Reply 4

Fusion

Don't forget the generous underfunded final salary pension schemes that have to be paid for for years to come

Reply 5

Captain Jack

Original post by Rakas21

But the answer to your thread is that no i won't. I still think it's entirely reasonable that i'll be a home owner with a salary in excess of £30k.

Thanks for the analysis above. It's great that you are rejecting it. I think you will be fine too, but I do think your generation need to be more coordinated to deal with the government better.

I'll be fine

Volunteer Section Leader

Original post by Captain Jack

Thanks for the analysis above. It's great that you are rejecting it. I think you will be fine too, but I do think your generation need to be more coordinated to deal with the government better.

Isn't this entirely the problem? It shouldn't just be left to 'our generation' to deal with the government over, nor should most issues that only affect parts of the population.

Reply 8

Captain Jack

Original post by shadowdweller

Isn't this entirely the problem? It shouldn't just be left to 'our generation' to deal with the government over, nor should most issues that only affect parts of the population.

I agree - but it doesn't help when the people that need the help are themselves fairly complacent. For other groups to care, young people need to tell them there's a problem.

Reply 9

Bupdeeboowah

Original post by shadowdweller

Isn't this entirely the problem? It shouldn't just be left to 'our generation' to deal with the government over, nor should most issues that only affect parts of the population.

According to Tory ideology, if the current government succeeds in delivering its high wage, low welfare, low tax state promise, then it shouldn't be up to the government to really intervene in these matters. Rather, the people in such a hypothetical situation would be able to deal with these issues by themselves, individually because of this increased wealth.

Heavy emphasis on the hypothetical though.

Reply 10

shadowdweller

Volunteer Section Leader

Original post by Captain Jack

I agree - but it doesn't help when the people that need the help are themselves fairly complacent. For other groups to care, young people need to tell them there's a problem.

Well... no :tongue:

Part of the focus of that article was on 16 year olds, who aren't even allowed to vote. It seems unfair to say they should be informing us there's an issue when they're not even eligible to vote on the matter themselves. Besides which, a general disinterest of young people in regards to politics suggests an issue with the system itself, not with the voters themselves - if they don't feel they can make a difference, or indeed, haven't been made aware enough of the matter, then that suggests an issue in how we're running things.

It's also worth noting that in the 2010 election, 60% of 18-24 year olds voted, compared to an overall of 66.1%; hardly a stunning difference, so it's not like people haven't tried to make their voices heard.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 11

Captain Jack

Original post by shadowdweller

Well... no :tongue:

I used to think the same about "it's the system that's broken" but as time's gone on, I don't really agree. I think that's an easy way of passing the buck. I don't agree with inaction if you disagree with something. The only way to make a change is action. (I'm thinking about Russell Brand's nonsense in particular :biggrin:

).

Politics isn't an interesting subject, it never really will be. So it's up to everyone to understand it and take an active role where possible.

Voting is a great start - but in the past, the UK's public has been much more vocal with effective protests and action.

16 year olds can't vote, but they can collectively say what they want - and they should, because no one else is going to loud enough. They should be more interested in things like Tuition Fees and the cost of student accommodation - people at uni or post it have other things to worry about.

Although, really I am personally thinking more about those who are 18 - 21 and at uni being more active.

If young people were more organised, we would see it on TSR. Which is a very politically savvy community. It could be used to change the world. But it never really bubbles up that way.

Personally, I think there is an over reliance on ineffective social media these days (e.g. sign this petition, retweet if you agree) without proper thought as to how it will make a difference / who people are backing.

It's true however, that this isn't just a symptom of the young.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 12

shadowdweller

Volunteer Section Leader

Original post by Captain Jack

)

I don't think it's as simple as 'the system is broken' or 'young people should do more'; it's a combination of the two, and dismissing either is not only passing the buck, it's also preventing it from being fixed. Yes, young people are somewhat less involved in voting, but if their interest isn't being engaged in it in the first place, then some of the blame falls on why that is. If you don't offer any level of insight to them in the first place, then less will be inclined to do anything, or educated on the matter to do so; it would be like not teaching students maths beyond primary school, and then saying to them 'right, we want your insight on how to solve this A level maths problem'. A starting point would be to actually educate young people on it in the first place, before dismissing them as not doing enough.

Original post by Captain Jack

Politics isn't an interesting subject, it never really will be. So it's up to everyone to understand it and take an active role where possible.

Voting is a great start - but in the past, the UK's public has been much more vocal with effective protests and action.

I'd disagree with that - politics can be, and is, an interesting subject, but there's not enough focus on it in in regards to actually teaching people about it. And the apparent increasing similarity between the parties does little to help; people are unlikely to be interested if they don't think it will actually change anything.

The public still are involved in protests, the Junior Doctors protest, for instance.

Original post by Captain Jack

16 year olds can't vote, but they can collectively say what they want - and they should, because no one else is going to loud enough. They should be more interested in things like Tuition Fees and the cost of student accommodation - people at uni or post it have other things to worry about.

Although, really I am personally thinking more about those who are 18 - 21 and at uni being more active.

I think this has largely been addressed by my first point, but additionally there is clearly some level of interest in regards to tuition fees - look at the support Clegg got from students in 2010, and then at the preceding protests when the fees were raised again; it might not have been done in the right way, but there was certainly people active over it.

Original post by Captain Jack

If young people were more organised, we would see it on TSR. Which is a very politically savvy community. It could be used to change the world. But it never really bubbles up that way.

Personally, I think there is an over reliance on ineffective social media these days (e.g. sign this petition, retweet if you agree) without proper thought as to how it will make a difference / who people are backing.