The Times, the British daily national newspaper, recently shared a link on Twitter to an article on a survey demonstrating the attitudes of different generations on housing, and while the tweet didn’t blow up likes-wise, many people came to the comments to say their piece.
According to the research by the Policy Institute and Institute of Gerontology at King's College London, 52 percent of the baby boomer population agrees with the statement that the main reason young people can’t save up for a down payment to get a house is that they spend too much on things like “takeaway coffees and food, mobile phones, subscription services like Netflix and holidays abroad.”
It seems that this view went down a generation as even millennials themselves started to believe in this, and 48 percent of them agreed with baby boomers. The youngest adults, Gen Z, are not far behind, with 43 percent of them thinking that if they want to get a home, they should review their small spendings.
The survey also asked, “To what extent, if at all, do you agree or disagree with the following? The key reasons that young adults today cannot afford to buy their own home are things like the increase in house prices, stricter lending rules and low wage growth,” and surprisingly, 72 percent of boomers acknowledged that the skyrocketing prices are also a contributor to the problem.
Even though baby boomers acknowledged that not being able to afford houses is a complex problem consisting of factors that do and don’t depend on younger people, they still have the view that they are less motivated and hardworking than older coworkers. 54 percent of them have formed such an impression about their younger colleagues, although 34 percent didn’t see a difference in motivation and only 4 percent noticed them being more motivated.
It is really annoying for younger people to be blamed for not being able to afford a home because of occasionally spending money on things that bring them happiness and help to cope with stress.
But they should feel a little bit of consolation knowing that 81 percent of boomers, the biggest percentage of all generations questioned, admitted that young adults today have a harder time buying a home compared to their parents.
It seems that the majority of older people do realize that the prices have gone up quicker than salaries and the job market is more demanding than ever. However, people online couldn’t get over how many boomers actually think that the amount of money young people spend on takeaway food and Netflix would really make a significant difference in their savings for a down payment.
Only in the last year, house prices in the UK increased by 9.8 percent, while the average salary growth was only half of that. Also, bank rates are going up, so now it’s harder to pay off a loan than ever before.
Young people online tend to see the problems that are out of their control as more contributing to the problem in comparison to their faulty spending habits, and that is why they get so frustrated when older people keep saying it’s their fault. What do you think? Did the survey results surprise you? Do you agree with the opinions in this list? Do you think young people could save more if they adjusted their spending habits? Let us know in the comments!
