So, you are just out of school, university, or an apprenticeship. How do you become middle class – with a job, a house, and financial security? And has it become harder than it was for your parents? Youth unemployment stands at around 15% in the UK, higher than before Covid, but much lower than after 2008. Once you get that first job, you will earn money. On average, full-time employees aged between 18 and 21 make £499 a week. It rises quickly: for those aged 22-29 the figure is £648, and it is £805 for 30-39. For all age groups, those salaries have barely increased since 2008, once you control for the fact that prices have increased a lot. Still, compared to someone who started to work 25 years ago, you will earn on average 15% more. So, why do the other steps – getting a house and not thinking about money too much – seem so much harder now? The key is that, while you may earn more than your parents and grandparents, the things that are cheap, and the things that are not, have completely changed. ALL ABOUT THE MONEY There are two kinds of things money can buy. Those available only in fixed quantities – housing in a desirable location, a person’s time, or social status – and those that technology has managed to produce almost to infinity – a huge TV set, high speed internet on a phone, or fresh fruits and vegetables from the other end of the world. Compared to previous generations, young people now are much richer when it comes to the latter, but much poorer in the former. Since 2000, UK house prices have increased twice as fast as other prices, and the share of young Brits who own their house is 25% lower than in 1990. The economics are pretty simple, but it makes for complicated politics: if you want cheaper houses, you must build more of them. That means either building in less desirable locations, turning individual houses into flats, or convincing ageing people to welcome more neighbours. NO KIDS, WILL TRAVEL Perhaps the biggest symbol of this new middle class is DINKs (dual income and no kids). The term was coined in the 1980s to reflect the lifestyle of couples who chose the joys of technology, travel and restaurants over raising a family. As fertility rates fall worldwide, it has made a comeback, with TikTok superstars staging a life of workouts, fancy brunches and wanderlust. On average, a woman born in 2007 is projected to have her first child at age 35. And the same woman is expected to have on average 1.52 children, while her mother’s generation had 2.04. Parents today spend twice as much time with their children as 50 years ago, making the DINK lifestyle even more attractive: plenty of time to spend money on fun activities without having to worry about childcare costs. If playing peekaboo is not your thing, this gives you far more free time than choosing to be child-free would have given previous generations. But if DINKs want to buy a house they did not receive from their parents, they had better buy in a region where housing is cheap. 32 |
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