Generation Y grew up in the boom years – house prices were healthy, disposable income was high and petrol prices low. We believed things would always be easy for us. We spent our teen years disposing of pocket money quicker than our parents could dish it out. We had aspirations of getting on the property ladder and having well paid jobs – we were going to be in demand; the computer generation – especially graduates. We would be in the driving seat, moving around to get the best salary, negotiating pay rises etc… To put it mildly, we were brats.
Now, most of us will struggle to make it onto the property ladder for some time, and we stay at any job we can get, regardless of pay, for fear of being last-in-first-out someplace else. But with a measly one page of jobs in the local paper, alternatives are few and far between anyway.
Working at a school, like I do, means you are almost recession proof…there will always be hildren and they will always need to be taught. I say, almost recession proof, because my school did cut a large percentage of support staff to reduce costs at the end of last year.I am too young to remember the full effects of the recession in the ‘80s although watching my mother painstakingly create menu plans for the whole week is a memory which has stayed with me. But as I wander around the supermarket clutching my list, I wonder if I am old enough to be moaning about the price of butter. I’m sure it only used to be 85p a pack.
I peek into people’s trolleys and am faced with a sea of own brand products – just one of the ways people are cutting costs. Generation Y struggle to lower their standards to own brand produce – we are snobs who grew up with luxury goods in the glory years. But luckily Jamie Oliver is doing his bit to change that stigma.
Pulling up at the petrol station, I fear I have skipped my middle years and become one of those grannies that always complains about the price of things… “107? I remember when it used to be 78!” I shriek to my friend.
As standard commodities increase in price, disposable income falls. I have taken to subscribing to various money saving newsletters which send me vouchers to restaurants, shops and supermarkets. Last year this may have caused some embarrassment amongst my friends who saw me as a penny pincher; they now swap website addresses to get a whole mix of vouchers. Times are tough but we still want our luxuries.
My friends who made it onto the ladder a few years back rejoiced as they watched their mortgage repayments halve. Each month, they gleefully overpay as tracker deals have dropped in line with Bank of England cuts. Meanwhile I am left flinching at the cuts made to my savings account. With rates still low, I’d be better off fighting leprechauns at the end of a rainbow for their pot of gold than rely on my savings being enough for a deposit.
My advice to those who are just entering the real world? Make yourself employable. Get certificates, get work experience – unpaid or otherwise; make friends with people who work at companies you like. If something opens up, they may suggest you. Look at all the available routes into your chosen career – be it an apprenticeship, a diploma, a sponsored degree or something else. Remember, you make your own luck. The right place at the right time counts for a lot in employment but hard work is everything.
