Monday, March 07, 2016

We've Robbed Them of Their Future, We've Helped Ourselves to Their Present and Their Past to Boot. Shhh, Keep That to Yourself.


If you've got kids in their 30s you know what's happening. Trust The Guardian to make a big deal of it.

A combination of debt, joblessness, globalisation, demographics and rising house prices is depressing the incomes and prospects of millions of young people across the developed world, resulting in unprecedented inequality between generations.

A Guardian investigation into the prospects of millennials – those born between 1980 and the mid-90s, and often otherwise known as Generation Y – has found they are increasingly being cut out of the wealth generated in western societies.

Where 30 years ago young adults used to earn more than national averages, now in many countries they have slumped to earning as much as 20% below their average compatriot. Pensioners by comparison have seen income soar.


...It is likely to be the first time in industrialised history, save for periods of war or natural disaster, that the incomes of young adults have fallen so far when compared with the rest of society.

Experts are warning that this unfair settlement will have grave implications for everything from social cohesion to family formation.

Using exclusive data from the largest database of international incomes in the world, at LIS (Luxembourg Income Study): Cross-National Data Center, the investigation into the situation in Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the US has also established that:

Prosperity has plummeted for young adults in the rich world.

In the US, under-30s are now poorer than retired people.
In the UK, pensioner disposable income has grown prodigiously – three times as fast as the income of young people.
Millennials have suffered real terms losses in wages in the US, Italy, France, Spain, Germany and Canada and in some countries this was underway even before the 2008 financial crisis.

This Guardian series is a scathing indictment of governments that have done almost nothing to bolster the economic position of these millennials. Is it any wonder that Bernie Sanders has been able to mobilize their support? No, that's no fluke. What you might worry about is what happens when they get angry and want what's theirs.

Of course you might not have noticed a couple of extra large on your bank statement either. Well that money has gone somewhere. Any guesses?




No comments: