Low wages and an unstable workforce have destroyed the chance of most young people owning a house, an economist has warned.

triple j's What's Up in Your World survey has found 42 per cent of young people are living at home with their parents and working full-time or part-time, but most of them have less than $5,000 in the bank.

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Plus, 28 per cent per cent of young people have more than $5,000 in debt - and that doesn't include HECS.

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"Saving up to buy a house is a ridiculous dream for most of these young people," Dr Jim Stanford from the Centre for Future Work, told Hack.

"In general, young people across the board just don't have any savings and that's not surprising.

"The cost of living - especially in the big cities - is just astronomical... and they just simply do not having a realistic prospect of getting a stable job that'll allow them to pay off that debt and start saving."

Young people the 'guinea pigs' for an unstable workforce

Annika Windsor, 20, said she can't afford to move out, although she works several jobs while studying.

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Whatsapp Annika Windsor [middle] says she has to live with her parents despite working several jobs

"I can't afford to live by myself at the moment because rent is too expensive even in an apartment," she told Hack.

"I think the biggest thing is that times have changed and there are different pressures on the youth of today than there have been in the past.

I feel like when my parents were growing up my dad tells me stories about when he was 23 and he bought his own apartment and I don't feel like I can do that right now.

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Ryan Murdock, 23, is working several jobs too because he's among the majority of young people surveyed who want to own a home one day.

He said he can't get enough money from just one job.

"I think the financial strains are getting harder and harder, things are getting more expensive," he told Hack.

"I think if you want to enjoy your life to the fullest you need that financial support that comes from jobs and side jobs.

My spare time's Friday and Saturday night but apart from that I don't have much spare time.

Dr Stanford said most young people are working several jobs and they're the guinea pigs for a new insecure and unregulated workforce.

He said the rise of the gig economy, the casualisation of many jobs, as well as rampant wage theft, have created an impossible situation for young people.

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"Believe me the reason they're at home with their parents is not because they want to be there," he said.

"It's because society has denied them the possibility of earning a living and supporting themselves like we used to."

Calls for a more stable workforce

Ryan called for flexibility around work hours as well as higher wages to make the dream of buying a house to one day become a reality.

"I suppose it's hard as a young person to secure a job in the first place... and from then on in, it's tough working around school, uni, and sporting schedules," he said.

I think flexibility is a really important thing employers need to look at, and possibly an increase in pay for young people.

Dr Stanford urged politicians and employers to make regulatory changes to give young people a chance at stability.

"Young people in Australia are the best skilled generation in history... they've got ambition, they've got innovation, and creativity," he said.

"If we gave them half the chance - decent jobs, decent wages, decent security - they'd be out there blazing a path."