Indeed…
The Institute for Fiscal Studies reported today that over 60s are the only age group to be better off now than they were before the financial crisis struck in 2007/8, while adults in their 20s saw the biggest fall in income — about 12 per cent. They called it “a triumph of social policy.”
What?!
Naming and shaming: Britain got a report card this week from Unicef on the well-being of its younger generation. The result? An award for improvement. And a beating, because Britain’s kids still don’t know nuffink (like not starting a sentence with a conjunction).
Unicef (the United Nations Children’s Fund) measured several factors related to well-being and scored 29 rich countries for their performance in each category. (Full report here).
So what’s the damage to dear old Blighty?
Good news! If you were born in the UK since 2007 (unlikely, if you’re reading this) then you can expect to live for over 100 years. But there’s a catch. I’ll get to that.
This blog is called jinxedgeneration for a reason – it’s main focus will be on young people, particularly in Britain – those who aspire to live well but are set to inherit an unsustainable world on a collision course with catastrophe. No, I’m not banging on about global warming, although that’s part of the problem. I’m talking about housing, healthcare, income, jobs and quality of life: the transfer of wealth from the young to the old.
Home is where the heart is, right? If that’s true, my heart lives at HSBC along with my mortgage. If you’re aged between 18 and 30, yours probably does (or will) too.
This morning, Britain’s leading business group said that the country should build another 50,000 cheap homes. Don’t be fooled – they care more about businesses making money than they do about finding you a place to live. But that doesn’t mean they’re wrong.
jinxedgeneration.wordpress.com 