‘How are we supposed to have any money left to put aside?’
I’ll admit it: I personify Gen-z. I express myself through quoting Tiktoks. I don’t see anything wrong with spending £5 on a caramel latte. My favourite breakfast is, by far, avocado and poached egg on sourdough, sprinkled with salt and pepper. I much prefer to send a text than speak on the phone. And I will probably never own a house
I daydream sometimes about buying a big home in the countryside, having worked and earnt my own money to do just that. But self-sufficiency is becoming an unrealistic goal – and that’s not because I have a penchant for nice brunches and getting my nails done.
The year I was born – 2002 – the average house price in my hometown was £125,000. Now, I’ll need a deposit of that to even own a flat. If we do the maths in units of ‘slices of avocado toast bought’, as many boomers love to quote, I would have to eat an £8 slice of toast from an overpriced café 15,625 times – which is about one a day for 42 years and nine months. I’d quite like to think, at 20, that I’ll be younger than 62 when I get the keys to my first place. I’d also like to think I wouldn’t spend a hundred grand on toast.
Of course, renting is an option. But all that money going to a landlord depletes any savings I would otherwise have to go towards a deposit. Plus, on the average UK salary of around £25,000, coupled with the rising cost-of-living, how are we supposed to have any money left to put aside?
Gen-z are often blamed for being lazy. We’re told to grow up. But I’ll ask you this: how can we truly mature in a world that consistently denies us our independence by forcing us to rely on someone our senior for something as simple as a place to live?