Generation equity and inequity: gilded and jilted generations in Britain since 1945

ABSTRACT

This paper interrogates claims that millennial youth are being jilted by gilded baby boomers. The interrogation is by comparing the education and early experiences in labour and housing markets, then (when possible) the subsequent lives, of three post-1945 British cohorts: the immediate post-war cohort who completed education between 1945 and 1960, their children who passed through the same youth life stage in the late-1970s and 1980s, and finally the post-war cohort’s grandchildren, the millennials who have completed their education since the late-2000s. The analysis searches for gilded and jilted sections within each of these cohorts by comparing their lives with those of their parents. It shows that no cohort has been uniformly gilded or jilted, and that the label (jilted or gilded) which appeared most appropriate when a cohort was making its education to work, and family and housing transitions, has often looked inappropriate by the latter part of their lives. The paper argues that it is too early to apply gilded or jilted labels to any sections of millennial youth, and that current appearances that they are victims of generational inequity are due to a long-term failure to match increased investments in human capital within families and in education with investments in the economy and housing that would enable the millennials to convert their human capital into commensurate jobs and accommodation suitable for new family household formation.

KEYWORDS:

• Class
• education
• employment
• housing
• occupations
• youth transitions

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.