Young people have never had it so bad. No, really. Unless they have particularly wealthy family, young people can expect to be worse off than their parents.
This is the first time in history that downward economic and social mobility has become the norm, and it signals that our social contract – which dictates that you will be rewarded if you work hard, do as you’re told and pay your taxes – is broken.
Today, a landmark report from Alan Milburn, the former Blair-era health secretary, confirms that one in six (1.24 million) 16- to 24-year-olds will be unemployed by 2031 unless urgent action is taken.
The unflattering acronym for these young people is Neet – not in education, employment or training. And, according to shameful official data from the Office for National Statistics published on the same day as Milburn’s report, there are more than one million of them.
This comes alongside data from UK Finance – the trade body for the finance industry – which tells us that buying a home with a mortgage is now as unaffordable as it was in 2008, before interest rates were nailed to the floor.
