The Generation Gap

Every generation thinks it had it hardest. Jo and Kev dig into a Sunday Times article taking a multidimensional look at how Boomers, Gen X, Millennials and Gen Z have fared across five key areas: housing, wages, consumer goods, relationships, and retirement. As parents of four Gen Z kids, this one is personal. Spoiler: the Boomers did have it better — but the picture is more nuanced than the kids would have you believe. KEY TAKEAWAYS Housing: By 30, 50% of Boomers owned a home. First-time buyers today pay £73,800 in their first five mortgage years vs £41,500 for Boomers. The price-to-salary ratio has gone from 4.2x in 1975 to 7.6x today. Boomers had high rates but MIRAS tax relief softened the blow. Jo's 1988 Silvertown flat cost £85k — it's now £400k. Wages: Under-20s are up 20% in real terms thanks to minimum wage rises. Ages 20–27 are flat. Above 27, wages are down. 45% of unemployed 24-year-old Gen Z have never held a job, and graduate oversupply is squeezing entry-level roles. Consumer goods: Milk took 8 working minutes to earn in 1975, now 2. LCD TVs dropped from £4,500 to £279. But lifestyle creep absorbs the gains — one daily Starbucks is £225/month, and subscription stacking adds hundreds more. Relationships: UK marriages fell from 400,000 in 1973 to 224,400 in 2023. Average marriage age has risen a full decade in two generations. Birth rates dropped from 2.93 in 1964 to 1.41 in 2024. Silver divorce is also on the rise. Retirement: Boomers with final salary pensions had it best. Gen X were first to face defined contribution schemes — only 54% have adequate savings. Gen Z need £1,600/month to reach a £3m retirement pot. Their lifeline: the biggest intergenerational wealth transfer in history, if it survives inheritance tax changes. Verdict: Boomers won. Gen X feel the pension pinch. Gen Z face delayed milestones but may inherit on an unprecedented scale. The generation game is not over. TIMESTAMPS 00:09 Welcome and intro to the generation debate 01:30 Defining the four generations: Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, Gen Z 02:28 Housing: mortgage costs compared across generations 05:30 MIRAS, stamp duty wars and the race to complete in the 80s 07:14 Wages vs house prices: the salary multiple then and now 08:00 Jo's real-world test: his first flat in 1988 vs today 10:30 Low-skilled workers and homeownership rates by generation 11:30 Gen Z, university degrees and the graduate jobs squeeze 14:00 Wages by age group: who's up, flat and down in real terms 15:30 Consumer goods: the milk test (8 minutes vs 2 minutes) 17:10 Tech prices: LCD TVs from £4,500 to £279 19:00 Eating out: genuinely cheaper than 35 years ago 20:30 Coffee culture and the £225-a-month Starbucks habit 22:30 Subscriptions: the hidden drain no generation faced before 24:30 Marriage stats: volume halved, age risen a decade in two generations 26:00 Falling birth rates and the drift toward a one-child family 28:00 Silver divorce, no-fault legislation and changing social norms 30:31 Retirement: final salary pensions vs the defined contribution cliff edge 32:30 Auto-enrolment from 2012 and the savings gap it exposed 33:50 Gen Z's retirement challenge: the £3 million pot 35:20 Inheritance as Gen Z's potential lifeline and the IHT threat 37:13 Final verdict: who wins the generation game?