Crippled by student and credit card debt, struggling to get on the property ladder and suffering a stagnating quality of life, it may come as no surprise that some “generation rent” millennials wish they had been born in their parents’ era.



A survey by the Resolution Foundation has found that 48% of respondents think millennials – those born between 1981 and 2000 – will have a worse standard of life than their parents because of economic worries.

Only 23% thought young people could hope for a better standard of life given concerns about home ownership, job security and retirement finances, according to the thinktank’s survey of 2,179 people aged between 16 and 75.

“I feel sorry for millennials. They live in this low-wage economy now,” said one baby boomer. “I’m not sure how they’re going to afford anything. It’s dreadful.”



Baby boomers, those born between the 1940s and the 1960s, also mentioned the relative flexibility they had enjoyed in being able to change jobs or career paths if needed.

Only half of those who thought their children would have a better standard of life 15 years ago still do today, the study found.

Graduates and high earners are the most pessimistic about the future.

“I graduated just last year, and even though I worked hard and went to university, when I got my job I felt lucky,” said one millennial. “You shouldn’t have to feel lucky if you’ve worked hard and gone to university. The previous generation, if you went to university it was kind of expected you’d get a good job whereas now it’s not.”

Almost 60% of graduates believe young people will have a worse standard of life than their parents, a concern echoed by a similar proportion of high-earners.

The figure was still high among those on low incomes, with 44% of people earning £20,000 or less believing the future would be tougher than the past.

Young people are now so anxious about their prospects that many say they would rather have grown up at an earlier time, despite the advances in technology and social and economic progress.

“Even though I’ve gone to university and got a good job, I’m very pessimistic about getting on the property ladder for instance,” said another millennial. “My dad and mum didn’t have the opportunities I had [they are from south London council estates], but I’m in a worse position than they are.”

One in three millennials agreed that they would prefer to have grown up when their parents were children, compared with 32% who disagreed.

Among older generations, only 15% said they would rather be a young person growing up today.

Laura Gardiner, the Resolution Foundation’s senior policy analysts, said: “That such an anxiety has taken hold despite decades of economic growth, technological advances and growing social freedoms suggests we have failed to ensure that these gains have fully fed through into young people’s living standards and prospects.

“Of course, cheaper flights and smarter phones are great, but they’re no substitute for a secure income and a home of one’s own.”

She said that concern over falling living standards was one of the key factors driving the high turnout of young people in June’s general election.