Why is Gen Z so Poor?

I have a business marketing degree but ended up with two retail jobs one that pays $10 an hour and the other with fewer shifts at $25 an hour I'm not making enough to get by I'm not going to have experienced this that most young adults do or did in the past because everything is just too expensive there's so much unknown I sometimes struggle to afford food despite working full-time and living with a roommate making ends meet means pulling money from savings skipping a meal or drinking water so that I can try and see full these

individuals are from Generation z a generation who are coming of age right now a common reaction to the previous statements are as follows every generation has their own issues to deal with during their time and this new generation just simply needs to work harder while some could say that that's partially true it's clear that the numbers are not in favor of jenz when I first started Living on my own I was paying $280 a week in rent my landlord wanted to increase my rent now to $450 a week I make over three times the federal

minimum wage and I cannot afford to live where does this go in 5 years when 100 million Americans cannot buy a home and get a fixed rate and their rents being raised 200 every year six in 10 genz ear feel unable to save for the future only 15% of gen Z expect to be able to afford a home in the next 5 years and 80% of those who rent worry that rental costs will keep Rising beyond their capacity to afford them 47% of gen Z report that they or a household member lost a job or

took a pay cut due to the covid-19 pandemic and this makes them the most affected generation around 40% of gen Z are struggling with mental health with financial stress being a major factor so how did a generation that was poised for Success end up in such financial distress a gen Z really as lazy as many people claim or can we really blame this generation just think about it they had to live through multiple economic crises geopolitical tensions a global pandemic and a new constant fear of AI threatening to replace them and how do Millennials and

Boomers play a part in all of this in this special episode we go through a journey of generations and we look at the real reasons why gen Z is facing the brunt of it all we'll tackle this topic in three broad categories housing the economy and education a quick note although this episode is focused on gen z a lot of this applies to younger Millennials too and a lot of these numbers are America focused but will definitely be including other countries around the world too so join us as we try to answer perhaps the most

important question facing this generation is Gen Z truly the poorest generation in modern times you are watching cold fusion TV before we dive in let's paint a vivid picture of who we're talking about when we say genz at the time of writing the oldest of them would be around 27 years of age in America and Britain this group is 1/5 of the population a similar proportion to current Baby Boomers the developing world has more of them in Nigeria gen Z makes up 32% of the population and 27% for India in the west compared to Millennials

gen Z are more environmentally conscious drink and smoke less and are in less relationships they care more about social issues although they socialize less 38 minutes per day versus an hour for the eth of the year 2000 you can watch my loneliness epidemic video for more on that side of things celebrities in this generation include the likes of Billy ish zanda Greta thunberg mbappe Mr Beast and Naomi Osaka while these genz celebrities are obviously doing fine everyday people in their cohort are coming of age into tough times what is really screwed up is the world

is massively in debt the workforce is shrinking population's growth is slowing down it's slowing down GDP growth so there's not enough GDP growth to pay or service the amount of debt out there and what we found since 2008 that the answer to this debt issue has been printing of more money debasement of currency people think of it in terms of at first they think it's going to be inflation as in the price of CPI goes up but it's actually not it's actually something much worse is Wages don't rise but assets go up because optically you're

debasing the currency but what's happening is you can't afford as much of that now and so your future self is in fact poorer so a classic example is a 35-year-old now in the United States getting married having kids a house is very expensive now compared to when Peter and I were young it was relative cheap three times incomes now it's like 10 times incomes so there's no real way of getting up the ladder so the advantages that your parents had are not available to you for Gen Z above all there's probably one thing that feels

more Out Of Reach than anything else [Music] housing if you've scrolled through any social media feed you've likely come across memes like these this humor hits close to home for 34% of genz who see home ownership as an impossible feat in their lifetime not in the next 10 to 20 years but an entire lifetime think about that for a second additionally in 2022 the typical age for a first home buyer hit a record high 36 geners are staying at home longer to save on rent for example in the US young adults living at home have

increased 87% over the last two decades and in Australia it's risen 177% just since 2016 in Sydney only 0.1% of the properties there are affordable for the average household for one student in Canada he found it cheaper to just fly to his classes to avoid higher rent I need to pay like 2500 for the rent I don't feel that is like you know viable the problem really becomes clear when you see the disparity visually in the US home prices are now Rising twice as fast as income now it takes about about 6 years of income

to buy the average house for Boomers this was 2 to 3 years Generation X 3 to 4 years Millennials 4 to 5 years and as just shown gen Z 6 to 7 years but Australia is on another level the average house price in Sydney $1.6 million if you're on a single wage it takes 14 years of income on average to buy a house remember that's 14 years of work if you save 100% of everything you earn in other words you'd have to be homeless and eating out of garbage bins to do that just astonishing and

then there's stories like this this three bedroom Padington home in Native renovation selling at auction for an ey watering $9 million that's a whole million and a half above the reserve boasting off street parking and a converted St the Terrace last sold in 1981 for $300,000 the new buyers are planning to spend anywhere from a million to 5 million to bring it up to scratch and this this split level one-bedroom apartment in Bondi Junction which is listed for $900 to say I was underwhelmed is an understatement among the applicants were two young Maids both male

and wish to say Anonymous they were prepared to c-li in this one better these are the kind of sacrifices people are having to make there's a myriad of reasons of why this is happening in Australia and I'm going to do an entirely separate video on this topic alone but the bottom line is prices have surged more than 22% in just one year in the UK things are bad too the average house cost nine times as much as average earnings in the UK the last time house prices were this higher compared to earnings was almost 150

years ago back in 1876 but this is where things get a little more complicated there's actually a Twist here with Generation Z despite a global shortage in affordable housing and Rising property prices gen Z seems to be navigating the housing market adequately data from red fin over in the US shows that 30% of 25-year-olds owned homes in 2022 3% more than their Gen X counterparts at the same age well how is this here's what different experts say those in gen Z took advantage of record low mortgage rates in 2020 and 2021 this made servicing a

mortgage less of a burden gen Z has more remote work opportunities so they're able to live somewhere remote and more affordable and lastly this cohort has more access to technology information and platforms which all help in their home purchases according to Ben Miller the CEO of fundrise quote every generation is getting more economically screwed in some ways but they gen Z have way more knowledge and information than previous generations way way way more that's got to count for something end quote interestingly in comparison Millennials aren't doing so great with housing it seems like the 08

crisis hit that cohort hard when it came to buying a house on a societal level the problem of home ownership is making it harder for both younger Millennials and gen Z to think about marriage and having kids a solution that's equally as sad as it is dystopian is the tiny home Trend Jen zers and Millennials are buying pre-fabricated tiny homes on Amazon for under $40,000 as the median price of American homes tops $400,000 here in California the median house is over $770,000 a silver lining here is that reports suggest that the job market is booming

or is it if you're 15 to 24 years old in some places you'd be lucky to have a job in Spain the unemployment rate of this age bracket is 28% Sri Lanka 27% Greece 25% Italy and Sweden 23% in China things also aren't going great for the young thanks to economic uncertainty and a large population in higher education over one-third of degree holders there may be unemployed let's go back to other parts of the world in the west the picture looks a lot better but as you'll soon see not all is as it seems youth

unemployment across the Richer countries of the world on average is around 13% It hasn't been this low since 1991 but you might be thinking something doesn't feel right about this Rosy picture it's not like here jenzy and Millennials rejoicing about how good the job market is so what is going on why don't the figures line up with what everyone's feeling well the fact is the figures we often hear aren't telling us the full story for example in 1994 in the US the government changed the way they count unemployment they stopped counting all of those who

stopped looking for work or only have part-time employment a lot of other countries have done this too and when you factor that in everything starts to make sense Peter Schiff explains further so if you're really want to put today's unemployment in context what you have to compare is the current U6 number to the u3 number that existed prior to 1994 and I happened to do that and what I found if you look at the 1950s and 1960s there wasn't a single year during those two decades where unemployment was as high as it is right now

you got to go to the 1970s that was 1975 oh in 1976 so only 2 years and that's supposed to be a horrible decade stagflation Jimmy Carter all the bad stuff that happened there were only 3 years during the 1980s when unemployment was higher than it is right now we were in the worst recession since the Great Depression the FED had interest rates up at 20% right we were really trying to fight inflation so only during the latter 1970s and early 1980s did you have unemployment higher than it is right now so how is Gen

Z doing today overall opinions are divided on the one hand Lawrence kotlov an economics professor at Boston University agrees that quote this is a tougher climate for sure parents need to realize that their kids are in trouble end quote others like personal finance expert Ken Coleman believe that gen Z has an advantage due to technology which levels the playing field quote I think this next Generation this gen Z generation and the kids coming up behind them I think we're going to see an entrepreneurial boom like we've never seen in history because of the playing field

being leveled by technology making it so much easier end quote while it's true that technology does indeed help even the playing field will it be enough and it could be a double-edged sword for example AI advancements however hyped and overblown today in some areas could provide a real challenge to working humans over the next decade we'll have to wait and see okay so that was the job market but once genas get a job how are they doing well again again there's some interesting stuff going on gen Z have figured out something pretty smart changing jobs

more often allows them to earn more almost 30% more according to Business Insider according to the economist the wages for Gen Z are rising much faster than other age groups in America hourly pay rates for those 16 to 24 were 7% higher year on-ear compared with workers aged 25 to 54 at 13% in Britain the pay of those age 18 to 21 Rose 15% last year and this is far greater than the other age groups in New Zealand the average hourly pay of those age 20 to 24 increased by 10% compared to the average of

6% in a few places including Croatia and Slovenia genz are already earning as much as the average worker it's all very interesting the explanation for this could be simple after the postco inflation started exploding a lot of people would ask for a raise and they got it but the difference would is this they're the youngest cohort so they had the lowest base wage because their wage was lower companies could afford to pay them more as it was still cheaper than retraining someone else for example so when you look at the proportions genz seems to be

doing better but the truth is even if their pay is increasing at a faster rate it may still not be enough gross income to live comfortably so the question must be asked why is pursuing higher salaries not translating into Financial Security One word inflation While most of us have felt the pinch of everyday essentials inflation lies at the heart of jz's financial struggles they're mostly just starting their careers and probably earning less overall to enter the work force during a period of Rapid inflation not seen since the 1970s would be a real shock for any

young adult in 2022 inflation soar to the highest point in 40 years during the pandemic supply chain disruption meant that Goods cost more and to prevent the economy from stalling governments printed excess amounts of money to revitalize it it sort of worked but all of that extra money slushing around in the economy later showed up as inflation suddenly a trip to the local grocery store was 8% more expensive and this isn't to mention fuel air fares rent and transportation and most critical of all education but we'll come back to that jenz has never seen prices

rise so rapidly in their lifetime and they're going through a of sticker shock some reports even go as far as to say that gen Z is quote psychologically scarred by the effects of inflation okay so inflation is high but what does that really mean well I quickly need to show you some lessons from history so we can understand the full effects barring World War II in which life wasn't normal the mid '70s till 1981 saw raging inflation reaching a peak of 20% with everything costing so much and wages being stagnant most households decided that two

people needed to work work to keep the household afloat there was no other choice the natural result was that more women entered the workforce a trend that remains till this day but there's a tragic thing about inflation even as the inflation rate subsides prices usually stay elevated for example say the inflation figure drops from 8% to 3% it doesn't mean that prices actually go down it just means that prices are rising at a slower rate in other words they were rising at 8% and now they're rising at 3% as say this just to highlight that

inflation is nothing to play with but the good news is that for now inflation rates across the world have slowed while that's welcome news gen Z would have to accept that higher prices are here to stay higher wages do help but the truth is for a young person just starting out in their professional career inflation makes things very hard how much did you pay for your first house $118,000 with 17 Acres what year 1989 when I was a kid cars were thousands of dollars a brand new car like I don't know $5,000 I remember seeing

ads houses houses were probably what 10 20,000 when I was a kid a dollar used to actually be worth something but there's another twist here if you can believe it inflation may be worse than what we're being told there's a reason why a dollar doesn't go as far anymore according to economist John Williams founder of Shadow government statistics the US government may be fudging the inflation numbers so real inflation is worse than what's published Williams argues that the methods used to calculate the inflation have changed over time this first occurred in the 1980s and ever

since the inflation rates have been reported as lower than what they actually are in blue you'll find a more honest representation of inflation whereas in red these are the official statistics the official statistics don't factor in house price growth directly or they might substitute stake for more affordable meat when determining grocery expenses and more tactics of that nature although it's not just the US government that manipulates inflation numbers it's a common tactic used by many governments around the world mainly to get reelected so why say all of this the bottom line is that living standards

are being slashed by even more than we realize it's getting harder for everyone especially those who are just starting out in their professional [Music] career so the part you've all been waiting for are gen Z lazy entitled brats let's take a [Music] look to set the stage when it comes to Attitudes among workers employee confidence and morale is generally low across all generations not just gen Z but that being said out of all the age groups genz is the most disengaged at work only 44% of genz report job satisfaction and that's compared to 67% of

older workers last year Jers boasted about quiet quitting this is where they put in just enough work to not get fired others talk about bare minimum Monday this same type of behavior is occurring all across Asia in China they call it Tang ping or lying flat and we've covered that on this channel before a 2022 survey found that Americans aged between 15 and 24 spent 25% less time on quote working and work rated activities than those in 2007 this next statistic is very telling the share of American 12th graders age 17 or 18 who see

work as a central part of life has dropped sharply why is this well gen Z want a workplace that has mentorship genuine connections flexibility and a work life balance for them the world has changed and the traditional office job with a commute just doesn't cut it anymore the older Generations look at Jen Z's attitude with scorn to them it appears like a pure lack of work ethic in fact three in four managers consider gen Z the most difficult age group in the workplace are gen Zed workers lazy or are they simply changing the work culture

lazy a new survey has found 60% of us bosses have fired their genz workers complaining that the younger generation wanted to leave early start late and expected to be paid a fortune well now bosses in Australia have the same problem they're not bad they're different that's all like they're growing up in an you know a world where they're probably not going to buy a house you know ever going to be able to afford it they've gone through Co I think they've just got a bigger sense of YOLO that went and and that's not a bad

bad thing it's just different so I think older bosses are like no I I worked a horrible job all my life you should too and the kids are saying no uh but I think the work ethic comes back to finding a passion and that's no different for any other gen Zed worker and I think that's why you know some of this trend may have happened maybe this work wasn't their passion and it's not something that they really wanted to do for the rest of their life and I think that's where it comes back to if

someone finds a job they love they'll put in their all and if it's something that they don't really love I think my generation nowadays are just more inclined to be like look this isn't for me I'm not going to give my all and I'll find something else that is uh we have to take better care of young people's mental health and also the older people in the workforce need to communicate maybe in newer ways and or teach younger people how to communicate in older ways okay but here's the truth of the whole thing most of

these companies would lay you off in a heartbeat if it affected their bottom line and jenzy knows that they might even be the first generation to enter the workforce knowing that I'm not telling you to be lazy on someone else's dime but a lot of these companies don't give a damn about you and it's perfectly acceptable to not give a damn back but who's actually right well we have to look at both sides of the argument first according to surveys of manages and employers gen Z has a combination of perceived entitlement short attention spans and

a tendency to critique beliefs held by other generations and this next one's going to be controversial but there's a common Trope that gen Z is too too soft according to CNBC 25% of gen Z say that they need a therapist just to deal with the stress of filing taxes so who do you think is right who has the valid points I do think it's interesting to see how age plays a role in one's thinking but one thing is true gen Z actually works harder than most people think almost four in 10 genz have a side

hustle in addition to the regular job so it seems that genz will do the work but it's just on their own terms and now we can move on to education let's start with South Korea the Youth of South Korea are the most educated in the world nearly 70% of those aged 25 to 34 have a tertiary degree that's the highest among OIC countries just imagine the stress and fierce competition despite their educational prowess over half of se's Youth face asset poverty that means they La enough liquid assets to cover their basic needs for three months

moreover in a country where working 18-hour days isn't uncommon skyrocketing house costs are pushing many South Korean geners into small apartments just 50 ft that's almost 1/10th of a standard studio apartment so the United States of course is an interesting case education there is extremely expensive tuition costs have risen faster than the cost of Medical Services Child Care and housing student debt is no joke with these higher interest rates it's so bad that 39% of recent graduates said that they would choose to spend a week in jail if that meant that they could raise their

debt so since about 2018 some genz are simply turning their backs on traditional higher education paths and looking towards a career in trades community colleges are also being looked at more it is so weird to me that everyone wants to go to a highly ranked College usually the professors there their number one focus is not teaching they're incredibly smart but what they really care about is their own research as you guys know smarts does not equate to skill when it comes to teaching also does not necessarily translate to motivating young people that's why the most

impactful teachers are usually at community colleges way cheaper way easier to get into you can likely live at home if you go to Community College overall I think that's pretty much the move but in most Western countries those who are going to University are being smarter about it the economy isn't as secure as it once was so there's been a drift to more easily employable degrees science engineering and medical degrees are rising and the humanities are falling out of favor and all of this isn't to mention jz's debt levels in the US for example with

inflation and interest rates Rising gen Z has the fastest rising debt levels of any generation between 2022 and 2023 so just in one year Boomer's debt went down by 1.3% Millennials up by 8% and gen Z up by 15.4% in addition gen ZZ is also making $7,000 less than their same age group was at decade ago adjusted for inflation they really haven't got it easy we can all agree on that so in conclusion I personally think that gen Z is in a very interesting situation there's multiple stories going on here on the one hand there's

Financial headwinds inflation and Rising rents but on the other hand their wages are rising faster than any other age group and Home Ownership rates are higher than Millennials during the same age but at the same time when compared to Generation X and Boomers there's still a lot a and I haven't even touched on those from gen Z now living in war torn countries countries that were peaceful 10 years ago but in terms of work their attitudes towards work are changing perhaps in 10 years instead of going to college learning a trade will be close to

the norm who knows but all of that is the reason why this topic is so important gen Z are the near future historically in times of economic downturns the young become disenfranchised and they vote against the leadership that put them in their current position governments and politicians have to pay attention to them or they'll be out of a job in no time considering that gen Z is the most politically active age group the potential outcomes may carry even more weight given all we've looked at gen Z is trading water right now but they definitely aren't

swimming but let's think outside the box a little bit here and let's put this all into perspective over the past 100 odd years which generation do you think had it the worst well here's a clue they're so old you probably haven't heard of them they're called The Lost Generation they were born between 1883 to 1900 three whole Generations before the baby booms many had to go to the first world war the soldiers came back traumatized the world hadn't seen such violence before they were left to wander the streets no support and lost through life and

this is where the generation got their name from The Lost Generation not long after the scars of War they would then lose all of their money in the Great Depression but life wasn't done dealing with them yet during the depths of poverty they watched helplessly as they had to send their own kids off to the second world war and by the time they got to relax in life they were already in their 50s this added perspective isn't to say that jenz has it easy they don't and there's no arguing against that and my heart does

go out to all of those who are suffering financially but the world isn't in shambles yet and there's still opportunities hopefully with better policies and innovation our economies and employment situations can turn around on the bright side gen Z does have something Priceless on their side time wise Investments with the little money that they do have could be life-changing in the long run their willingness to work side hustles and their access to the best technological tools the world has ever seen could see them becoming the most entrepreneurial generation yet society as a whole should support

them however they can to help them reach their full potential after all they are the future but that's just my opinion given all of the information that we presented in this video what do you guys think and with that we've covered as many aspects on the lives of Generation Z as we possibly could I hope you did enjoy that coverage and learned something from it feel free to share this episode with anyone who'd be interested if you want to see more on society and why exactly everyone is so lonely these days check out my episode

on the loneliness epidemic or if you want to know why the economy is the way it is today you can check out the episode on the 2008 crisis and why it still affects all of us anyway that's about it from me my name is toogo and you've been watching cold fusion and I'll catch you again soon for the next episode cheers guys have a good [Music] one cold fusion it's new thinking [Music] you [Music]