As a millennial, you probably assume that I feel Baby Boomers had an easier life. The short answer is No! We absolutely have struggles of our own time, but we don’t talk about the struggles of our parents and grandparents. I feel there is too much talk of millennials complaining in the media and it makes us look entitled and ungrateful. It is also an unfair representation as according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 55% of millennials are homeowners.
But enough about us! Let’s take a brief look at the Boomer's generational journey outside of ‘house prices’. Buying a house is a huge milestone however, life does and should not revolve solely around this goal.
While some sources vary on where generation lines are drawn, it’s generally accepted that baby boomers are born between 1946 and 1964. Don’t tell my parents as they blissfully consider themselves Gen Xs.
As a baby boomer, your childhood would have been tainted with the effects of the great depression as your parents raised you out of the tough times, they grew up in. With each generation, childhood has become more enjoyable, and I feel we forget our privilege as we distance ourselves from stories of what it was really like.
You then went to work at a time when women really struggled to earn an income and especially, married women with children. A lot of younger people out there don’t realise that women had to leave their jobs when they married to free up a job for a single woman. It was the husbands’ job to look after them and they had no business hogging a job opportunity. Too bad if your husband did have a work ethic. They fought against this, and married women were then allowed to work until pregnancy. Once they showed, they were out. How do I know? I’ve worked with these women, it was not that long ago that this was the case.
We often compare incomes with house prices and frankly yes, they have grown out of balance with wages. However, one income was usually all that was available. These days most households have two. For better or for worse.
I won’t spend too long on the high interest rates of the 80s and 90s as it is often a sore point in the discussion however, I did want to highlight both this and the fact that boomers had to navigate a recession in the early 90s. Something that most millennials probably don’t remember all too well. Australian millennials have never had a recession in adult life (GFC was not a recession in Australia).
Let's skip over Y2K and head to the later stages of the boomer's journey. The 2008 Global financial crisis. Even though it was not a recession in Australia, it was probably the worst part of the boomer journey. Imagine being 44-62 years old and having the super balance you were relying on crash. On top of that, those who did own homes, saw values drop, banks called in the debts (yep they can do that and there were fewer protections then) and businesses shut down. I was 18 at the time and didn’t have much super to lose in the 4 years I had already worked. I don’t care what they paid for their house in 1975, I wouldn’t have swapped places.
A lot of people were starting from nothing. Worst still, some people had a Part 9 (debt agreement) or bankruptcy against them.
Today, after record low-interest rates being earned on the savings that boomers have fought constantly to scrape together. A lot of boomers have adult children living with them. In some cases the spouse and children of the adult child. Those who have not retired yet, only have so much work left in them, and they need to look after themselves first.
I am a true believer that you work hard and make your own path. It is not impossible to buy your first home in your 20s. I’ve done it and I see it done all the time. There are lots of schemes available now that can help. It is possible and I really want to encourage other millennials not to give up if this is their goal. Not everyone has this goal.
I also want to remind people that we can’t look at someone’s age, circumstances, or even the time they lived and know how tough or easy they had it. Someone might have bought their home for $80k however they might now owe $700K on it. They could have had a much-needed renovation, a business failure, a divorce, a custody fight, health issues, a bad investment, gambling problem. People often use their home as an ‘ATM’ to buy cars every few years as well.
Let's focus on what we want our story to say. And to any millennials who may be reading this, don’t forget, the next generations are coming, and they are p*ssed we got a house for under $1M.
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