Research published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health reveals the most deprived group of people are adults aged between 20 and 29 and British government policies are to blame.
The 2008 financial crash mixed with the drop in funding for education and house prices rising faster than wages led to a society becoming more deprived in Britain between 2004 and 2015.
At #SheffieldUniversity I saw that the chancellors were having a meeting. Outside were a selection of half-eaten catering supplies, inc. a box of "Ridgways English Breakfast Tea", a trivial matter, perhaps?
— Richard Di Britannia (@DiBritanniaVO) March 11, 2018
Not at £18.99 for 250 it isn't.
Might I suggest Yorkshire Tea for £3? pic.twitter.com/7mqyyCaKbP
Having a low balance alert is basically having someone remind me every day that I'm broke.#broke #unemployment #millenials #jokes #jokeoftheday #31daysofjokes #31daysofresolutions
— meaghanrita (@meaghanrita) January 25, 2018
Britain's baby boomers, those born after the Second World War, are the best off with their their mortgages paid off, their homes quadrupling in value and enjoying their well-earned pensions in their retirement years.
How y'all 30 and still partying every weekend? I swear your #snapchat stories make me feel like a bitter #BabyBoomer who has worked 8a-5p all their life and still can't connect the wireless router.
— Enrique Guzmán (@enriqueguzmanjr) March 29, 2018
Meanwhile, adults in their 20s and 30s and so-called Millenials are the hardest hit by government cuts.
People in their 30s today have around half the household wealth of those born a decade earlier at the same age. #millenials #economy https://t.co/Paz5lYU9Uv pic.twitter.com/2GrGHDFNlp
— Full Fact (@FullFact) March 28, 2018
READ MORE: Mind the Gap: London's Rich Get Richer, Poor Get Poorer
In an essay for The Conversation, Evangelos Kontopantelis, professor in data science and health services research at University of Manchester cites six reasons for the gap between young and old in Britain.
The 2008 recession, "the housing market has been a self-reinforcing driver of wealth inequality", machines and robots encroaching the jobs markets, university tuition fees, pensions — or lack of pensions and the cost of raising a family.
Brexit Babies
"Things are likely to get worse with Brexit… the EU is the biggest funder of social housing in Britain, and this of course will come to an end." Professor Kontopantelis predicts. "The under 30s endured most of the increase, including a worrying trend for infants aged 0-4," he says.
The increasing socio-economic gap between the young and the old: worrying trends from 2004 to 2015. Exploring how government policies and the 2008 financial crisis have made the young poorer. Open access paper in @JECH_BMJ => https://t.co/Osau46KUd0 pic.twitter.com/9VMvM6T8a1
— Evan Kontopantelis (@dataevan) March 20, 2018
"Baby boomers in their financial safety (triple locked pensions, properties that are owned outright) can afford to take a financial hit through Brexit," Professor Kontopantelis says. "They are gambling with other people's fortunes since they will be largely unaffected by a future economic crisis, unless pensions are slashed."
But it's often easier to blame millenials for being worse off — but Professor Kontopantelis believes "we should give millenials a break."
— Doobious 🌹 (@TwitizenDoob) March 29, 2018
"The primary challenge for young people born in Britain is not competing with young immigrants for jobs, but sustaining an older population that is increasing in size much faster than the young."https://t.co/znDUUTSQI4
— Mary Tracy (@MaryTracy) March 28, 2018
READ MORE: Destitute Nation: More Than a Million 'Weak, Dirty and Hungry' in Britain