I’m glad that I am not in my twenties now.
Here are six reasons why.
Entering the housing market.
Is it actually worth it? To get into $500,000 debt just to buy a home and then be stuck paying it off for the next 30 years?
For more than a hundred years, the median house price in Australia was three times the median income, meaning first homes were not just accessible to more people, they were manageable on one income.
Now, the median house price is nine times the median household income. Young people facing this dilemma are justifiably concerned.
Career expectations.
“Do you think travelling for a year will be bad for my career?”
Questions re travel vs career weren’t as relevant in my early twenties, because overseas travel wasn’t as common as it is now. But it’s also securing an entry-level job that seems to be a challenge for Gen Y-ers.
I hear from a lot of young people in my industry (advertising) that a huge percentage of graduates are struggling to get a foot in the door. Apparently a lot of companies posting “entry-level” jobs are really looking for people who’ve had between one and three years’ work experience. I certainly don’t remember things being so tough when I was a graduate.
- Too many amazing role models.
Something that must be overwhelming for young people today: the constant parade of precocious success stories.
Miley Cyrus had a total image makeover – and launched her second career – at age twenty. Mark Zuckerberg became the world’s youngest self-made billionaire at age twenty-three.
Taylor Swift practically rules the entire universe – and she’s just turned twenty-five. New Zealand songstress Lorde rocketed to fame at age sixteen. And to top it off, Malala Yousafzai won the Nobel Peace Prize. At age seventeen. Feeling stressed yet?
- Body image madness.
Two words: protein balls. These were not a ‘thing’ ten years ago. Nor was #fitspo, thigh gap, or the Paleo, 80-20, 5:2, green smoothie/cacao/kale diet. Oh the pressure! It’s enough to make me reach for a Tim Tam.
- Social media madness.
This generation is well and truly in the era of social media. A big part of my work is social media and I love it, don’t get me wrong, but it must be quite a task to ensure YOUR WHOLE LIFE IS APPROPRIATELY DOCUMENTED ON SOCIAL MEDIA.
Imagine having to Instagram almost every meal you’ve ever had? And recognizing the exact moment you should create a Pinterest board for your bedroom makeover. So tricky! So demanding! How do you know when to cull those superfluous Facebook ‘friends’?
- Uber scares the crap out of me.
Put simply, these twenty-somethings are risking their life and safety just to trial a new cab system for the rest of us. We salute you. So whilst I dipped in and out of my novel on the beach, safe in the knowledge I knew what I would be wearing tonight (comfy shorts and a loose t-shirt) I did feel grateful that my twenties were done and dusted in the previous decade. #blessed.
Top Comments
Like many other mid 20 readers who have commented, I'm not sure that this article really rings true for most. My husband and I (together 9 years in March) are in our mid 20s and bought a beautiful 4x2 house around 8km from the city on a full block with views of the Perth hills last year. My husband is our sole income down to my health and personal choice (I dreamed of being the quintessential housewife and my husband loves having the little woman at home who fusses over him), and it works well for us; I spend my days making things to sell online or scouring the markets to provide us with healthy but incredibly cheap meals. In fact, our system works so well that this week we were able to pay off $20000 remaining on his vehicle in one lump sum (after a few months of careful planning and saving).
Sure, not many of our cohort are as lucky as we are right now, but while all of them were on holidays every weekend to Bali or splurging their pay packets at nightclubs and on the hottest outfits, we were eating mince and trying to stay warm in a dodgy rental with no heating. I cut his hair for him, we don't take holidays, we live within our means. In my garden are plants I grew from seed or cuttings, and we build and renovate everything ourselves (like instead of paying a fortune for wood benchtops in our new kitchen (which came with a $15000 price tag), we made them ourselves for less than $900)
It's all about perspective and working to your goals. Work out what you want from life and how to get it.
I think too many people think they can have (and are entitled to) whatever they want, but not want to work for it. Too bad for them, they are going to miss out!
As a 26 year old who just recently purchased her 2nd property I can say it honestly sucks how expensive the housing market is. My husband and I are trying to build our investment portfolio for our future which seemed pretty straight forward but even using the 70k equity in our property (bought the 1st property a month after our 18th birthdays) we needed to pay a stupid amount of stamp duty and lenders mortgage insurance ontop of that, so chances of us being able to move on to a better property in the next few years like we are hoping are very slim. I just think how silly our parents were not grabbing onto some real estate all them years ago when housing was more affordable, they'd be sitting pretty.
Im thankful we made the decision to buy so early though.