East Midlands shows biggest slip in living standards from previous generation
This fascinating article could really do with a rural/urban interpretation. It demonstrates a challenge I have been aware of in rural England for years about living standards eroding the stake young people have in the place they live. It tells us:
The analysis has found that generational progress on pay has been weak nationally, with those born in the late 1980s earning just 3% more at ages 26-28 than those born in the early 1970s at the same stage in life.
In stark contrast, those born in the early 1970s earned 16% more at the age of 28 than those born 15 years before them in the late 1950s.
While most regions had seen some improvement, millennials in the east midlands, south-east and London all earned less in their late 20s than the previous generation.
However, young people in the north–east have made considerable pay progress, with millennials earning 13% more at the age of 26-28 than those born 15 years earlier.
Funded by the Nuffield Foundation, the research also showed that homeownership rates have collapsed for young adults across the country, while the amount of money millennials spend on housing as a share of their income has rocketed.
Amid concern across the political spectrum over the difficulty facing young adults in getting on the housing ladder, the research showed that the proportion of 26- to 28-year-olds who owned their own home had collapsed by half since 1997.