When previous generations passed into adulthood, rites of passage signalled the start of a new and hopeful horizon, whether learning to drive, going to university, getting your first full-time job or taking time out to travel the world.
But sadly for young people today the world they are emerging into is one where instability, uncertainty and sparse opportunity is the new normal.
Having grown up in the shadow of the 2008 crash and austerity, young people now face the daunting prospect of starting their adult lives in the wake of a global pandemic and subsequent global recession, which expects to see one million young people facing unemployment as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.
I surveyed thousands of people aged between 16-24 year olds for a major study for HOPE not hate and found widespread pessimism and high levels of anxiety.
There was a bleakness for the future with half of young people not expecting to be in a good job or have somewhere decent to live in five years time. A majority feel that the coronavirus outbreak has limited their options for the future.
Lockdown has already taken a toll, particularly for young people from low income backgrounds, in precarious work or living independently, struggling financially. 12% of young people in households with an income of £10,000 or less have got into debt, 11% have lost their jobs, 10% have struggled to pay their rent, and 9% have applied for Universal Credit. For young people living in house or flat shares, 26% had dipped into their savings, 24% had been furloughed, and 18% had struggled to pay their rent.
So it’s unsurprising that the pressures of everyday life weigh heavy for young people. More than half state mental health in the three greatest issues they personally face, with young women most likely to feel concerned; 65% say the coronavirus outbreak has had a negative impact on their mental wellbeing.
Moreover, many young people are feeling alienated, distanced from a political system which they don’t feel represents them. The costs of the coronavirus outbreak are fuelling the risk for widespread youth disaffection. Our research showed how anxieties about the post-pandemic future are opening up generational divides. A majority (67%) of young people agree that their generation will pay the price for a pandemic that has mostly affected older people; just 8% disagreed with this.
But there are also divisions among young people which could spill over as the economic impacts hit, and inequalities widen. While around half of young people fall into groups with overtly progressive values, with some more politically active and others driven by their own interests, around a quarter are more apathetic, but another quarter hold more reactionary or small ‘c’ conservative views.
While comfortable young graduates might be feeling uneasy about the future, other research suggests that their suffering in recessions is short lived compared with those with few qualifications or from low income backgrounds. The divisions we see in broader society are amplified among a generation who have grown up online, where some are finding refuge by playing on identity politics through a frustrated sense of entitlement – rejecting “political correctness”, embracing anti-feminism and nursing a sense of nationalistic victimhood.
There is a clear need for a recovery plan to support young people through the Covid-19 pandemic, and the long-term consequences it will have. This not only needs to address the economic impact on young people’s employment and financial security, but also on their wellbeing and their ability to feel valued in society.
Social divisions are not simply generational, it’s not as clear cut as young “snowflakes” attacking “out-of-touch” Boomers. Divisions are built on the unequal foundations of what we think we can expect in life, a combination of what we feel entitled to and the opportunities available to us to get there.
Young people are facing a perfect storm of disaffection which will only widen social divisions. A recovery plan that prioritises the ability for all young people to thrive is critical.
Rosie Carter is Senior Policy Researcher at HOPE not hate Charitable Trust