I think in concentrating on those of our children's generation who are finding life difficult we tend to forget that by far the majority of them are in work and have a life style way beyond anything we had at their age.
I am not talking about modern technology, that happens to all generations, remember transistor radios? electric calculators? We were able to buy a fridge when we set up home!! My very nice neighbours are in their late 30s, the house cost £800,000 plus when they bought it 5 years ago. They do not work in the financial sector and what they have they have paid for themselves. There are quite a number of similar families in my village. You have only to examine the makes and registration numbers of cars outside the village school opposite us to realise that.
My own children, who haven't attained that level of affluence, have patterns of expenditure that were beyond us. They spent this weekend at the seaside, this included two nights in a modest hotel. They eat out more, they and the children have far more clothes than we could ever afford.
The one problem for our children and this is one I readily admit, is the cost of housing - and it is a real problem. Building more new houses will not help. the most expensive part of building new houses is the cost of land and the more land that is needed for building houses the scarcer it gets and the cost rises. Land now accounts for as much as 60 % of the cost of some new homes in the south east, hence poky houses on tiny plots.
The causes of this are complex. Increased population, whatever the cause is certainly a contributor. Foreign investors buying houses in the UK for capital appreciation has not helped, but falling household size has also been a major contributor. In 1971 the average household contained 2.9 people. It is now down to 2.3. Marriage breakdown, adult children expecting to live away from the family home are also contributory.
However housing apart, I think the younger generation, are probably better off than us.