Imagine this: You are in your mid-20s, just out of college, or maybe a few years into your first “real” job. Think about high rent, soaring costs of living, and pressure to have it all figured out. Welcome, at last, to becoming an adult.
Many young adults find that the struggle lies not in working through dreams but in some very harsh economic realities. One major factor weighing heavy is the housing market. A study from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation reveals that more than four-fifths of low-income adults aged between 18 and 24 have gone without essentials in the past year. When rent eats up more than a third of your take-home pay, you’re not off the hook even when earning a so-called “middle income” of £30,000 to £60,000 a year.
“Many of them are caught in the private rent trap and have unaffordable rents which suck up more than a third of their take-home pay,” says Vicky Spratt. The simple fact is that as it already stands, too many young adults are having to make humbling decisions between paying rent and being able to afford grocery bills.
One cannot help but look back in time and think about how previous generations had it easier where owning homes was concerned. According to the Homeowners Alliance, the peak of homeownership in 2002 was 69.7%. Contrast this with 2017, where only 35% of the 25-34-year-olds were owning their own homes. It is not only a question of owning a home; those who did manage to buy are now facing rising mortgage rates, pushing them closer to the precipice of financial instability.
Aside from shelter, there is also the mental cost that comes with the effort of balancing the pressures. Indeed, the FFT report shows that 20% of the young adults in middle-income earning struggle to pay for basic facilities. And it is not farther away from reality for the ones once kept under residential care. In many a case, a lot of young adults leaving care do remain facing huge challenges; not least among them, homelessness. According to Rebecca Coombes, in her research for The Guardian, “40% of care-leavers experience homelessness within the first six months of leaving local authority care.” These statistics are damning, yet recognition of the problems is an important step toward solutions.
In fighting against dropping under such pressures, the young aren’t looking for sympathy; they’re looking for change. Rachelle Earwaker of the JRF said that was needed was a more systemic reform. “Everyone’s costs have been rising,” she said. “And earnings are not keeping up. Rents are rising at record levels, mortgage rates are higher and everything is more expensive than it was three years ago.” She said that a more progressive tax system and invest in public services.
It’s not just the statistics, but the personal experiences that put a face to these numbers: One young professional I know, who has a pretty well-paying job at a university, still rents a flat with two others. Over cocktails and burritos one night, she cried, “Will I ever be able to buy a house?” A cry so many of us have let out at one time or another. The good news? After some research, she found a shared ownership option where a deposit was required at as little as a few thousand pounds. Weeks later she had a mortgage in principle and an offer accepted on a studio flat.
It’s a minor victory, but still a victory.
Such changes are even more jarring for care-experienced people. Many others battle mental health problems, isolation, and instability. Hayden et al. postulate that insecure childhood housing is likely to result in bad developmental outcomes. The system should support these young adults more by ensuring that they have access to stable housing and mental health resources.
There is an associated need to ensure that such young adults grow through life skills and autonomy. Operationalizing this, according to bMindful Psychology, would involve the facilitation of vocational skills training opportunities for them, facilitating regular communication with their families, and recreational activities that allow them to socialize and express themselves. The path to adulthood is very challenging, but it’s also one of opportunities for growth and learning resilience. In dealing with housing crises, financial pressure, or mental health-related issues, young adults need a support network that gets their peculiar struggles. Let’s hope that policymakers and society at large start paying more heed to these critical issues so that young adults don’t just survive but thrive in the years ahead.